KOTOR III: The Hidden Threat
by squeaks101
Summary: Chapter 9 is up and Chapter 10 is being worked on. Please R&R and most of all enjoy!
1. Chapter 1 The Beginning

**Leviathan, capital ship of the Republic Fleet**

**The year was 3,963 BBY, the end of the Mandalorian Wars.**

The Jedi awoke in his bed, not knowing where he was at first. He sat up and rubbed his eyes, the sheets falling from him. He shook his head, trying to get rid of the fuzziness. After clearing his head, he remembered that he was on the Leviathan and that the Republic was at war. As the Republic was now nearing the end of the Mandalorian Wars, the young Jedi was relieved the war would be over soon. The Republic had come close to falling to the Mandalorians, but now they were pushing back and had the advantage. Revan was that advantage, and he had lead the Republic to countless victories where defeat seemed probable. And now, Revan had announced that he had a plan to stop the Mandalorians once and for all. Everyone was speculating as to what that plan could be, but he had told no one about it thus far, and so the Jedi decided to go try his luck and see if Revan would reveal anything. He quickly put on his robes, grabbed his lightsabers, and rushed out of his room.

The Jedi's name was Nicho Morn. He was a little less than six foot tall, had a beard, and blue eyes. He was muscular for his young age, but walked with grace of a Jedi Master. He had the wisdom of Master Vandar and the strength of Master Vrook. He wore the robes of a high ranked Jedi Knight, but knew that once the war was over the council would strip him of his rank and forbid him from returning.

He personally liked to carry two lightsabers, unlike Revan and the general who preferred the double-bladed ones and Malak who carried the traditional one lightsaber.

As he reached the bridge, standing there side by side were Revan, Malak, and General Joron Kraus. Those three were the best of friends, and probably the best leaders any army could ask for. He walked up and stood behind Revan. "What is it Lieutenant?" Revan asked.

"Permission to speak freely, sir," Nicho replied.

"Permission granted."

"Sir, I wish to know the details on your plan to defeat the Mandalorians. My men are tired and wish to return home and see their friends and family."

"I know," Revan replied smiling, "but I'm afraid that you are not allowed to know."

"Why not, sir?"

"Because it's on a need to know basis, and when you need to know, I'll tell you. Captain!"

"Yes, sir?" the captain replied.

"Have Bao-Dur meet me in the conference room, and set a course for Malachor V," was Revan's response.

* * *

Nicho Morn sat in his room preparing for the battle who knew was coming. He tried to meditate, but was unsuccessful due to the fact that he couldn't calm his mind. He couldn't stop from wondering what Revan was planning to do, so he decided to head to the bridge and talk to the general, maybe he could convince him to tell him. He looked up to the general, always had, and was glad he was someone Nicho could talk to.

He got to the bridge, and saw the general looking out of he viewport. Nicho walked up to the general, and stood beside him. The general looked at him and asked, "Is something wrong?"

Nicho Morn glanced over at him and said, "I just want to know what this plan is. I don't like being left in the dark and you and Revan know that."

"Don't worry; you will know soon enough, I will not disobey the orders of Revan, so you must be patient. Calm yourself, you will find out that you are going to play a big role in the battle to come," was the reply.

Not satisfied with the answer, but figuring he wouldn't get a better one; he decided to head back to his room. Within a couple hours, they had reached Malachor V and Revan gave the orders to send transmissions to provoke the Mandalorians into attacking them.

When intelligence soon reported that the Mandalorians were moving the bulk of their fleet towards Malachor, they started preparing for the battle. Revan soon approached Nicho saying, "The general will be staying on the ship along with Malak to oversee the battle and command the fleet, while you and I will lead the Republic ground forces on the actual planet below."

"I'm honored you have chosen me to lead the forces and fight along side you in the final conflict of the Mandalorian Wars," Nicho replied

"I'm not finished," Revan said, "I have also decided to share with you the plan to finally crush the Mandalorians. Bao-Dur has built a machine called the Mass Shadow Generator, and that machine will destroy the entire fleet of the Mandalorians in one shot. Our job is to try to buy Bao-Dur time to gather enough power to start it."

"How does it work?" Nicho asked.

"You do not need to worry about that, the important thing is that it will destroy the Mandalorian fleet, remember that," Revan replied.

With that they landed their forces on the surface of the planet and prepared for battle. Large trenches were dug into the ground and troops jumped into them, checking their supplies and equipment. Turrets were lined up along the trenches and mines placed throughout the battlefield. Nicho personally checked his squadrons' equipment and made sure nothing was malfunctioning; he wanted as little of his men to die as possible. Everything was in position, and so they waited and prepared for the worst.

Nicho felt uneasiness pass through the troops, and he realized that troop moral was not very high. Nicho sighed, _I guess a pep talk won't hurt, _he thought. He turned to his men, "Troops! Today is the day! Today we fight for our right to freedom! We fight for our friends, families, and our homes! We are going to stop the Mandalorians here on Malachor! Are you ready to finally crush this Mandalorian threat? To die for what we love and believe in?"

Only a few answered and it was rather halfheartedly. He looked at them and repeated, "I said, are you ready to fight for your loved ones, your home planet? Mandalorians have pillaged and burned planets with millions of people; can we allow that to go unpunished?" He had their attention and could see the fear and nervousness leave their eyes. "I will fight with you all to the death, and nothing would cause me to back down, I will stick with you to the end, now who's with me?"

They all raised their arms to the air and let loose a war cry that could scare even the most hardened Mandalorian warrior.

"Good," Nicho said. He turned around and whispered to himself, "Hit us with everything you got, you Mandalorian bastards, we're ready for anything."

* * *

The Mandalorians soon arrived at Malachor, led by Mandalore the Great himself. Their fleets converged above the planet, as the Mandalorians sent dropships to wipe out the Republic's ground troops below.

As soon as the Mandalorian dropships touched down, Mandalorian shock troopers unloaded from them and charged at the waiting Republic forces. They were cut down as mines shredded them to pieces and turrets quickly decimated troops that got to close to the bunkers. Then, a dropship flew over head and blew up a majority of the turrets. No longer held back, the Mandalorians full out charged them. Nicho calmed himself as the Mandalorians got closer and closer, and then took out both his lightsabers and they lit with a soft hum. Nicho turned to the charging army and told his men to engage the oncoming Mandalorians.

Nicho's lightsabers were a blur of blue and green as he cut and slashed his way through the Mandalorians cutting down everything that was in his path. The Mandalorians started to surround Nicho trying to overpower him with their numbers. He saw what they were trying to do, so he flipped into the air. As he did so, he gathered the Force and a shell was created around him. He began to spin in midair, and as he fell back to the ground he released the spinning whirlwind. The massive amount of concentrated power sent Mandalorians flying in all directions and killing all of them.

He watched the battle drag on longer and longer and he began to wonder what was taking Bao-Dur so long to start the Mass Shadow Generator. A blaster bolt flew by his ear and he realized he was so anxious he was losing his concentration, so decided he needed to be patient. He continued to lead his troops against the Mandalorians, both sides taking equal damage. He was cutting down enemy shock troopers when he was shot in the shoulder. He cried out in pain and astonishment; he couldn't believe he hadn't been able to sense the danger. Nicho was better than that and it frustrated him to know a Mandalorian had hurt him. He turned around and saw who really had shot him. It was Mandalore the Great. He covered the wound with his hand and pumped the Force into it, the pain vanished and he turned to engage Mandalore, but saw that Revan had already done so.

The ferocity of Revan's attacks were amazing, causing Mandalore to continually give up ground. Mandalore quickly retreated but Revan lifted his hand and Mandalore was lifted from the ground. He was sent flying towards Revan and he held out his lightsaber, Mandalore was impaled on it and then fell to the ground. At that time a Republic captain came up to him, "Sir, Mandalorians wearing Stealth Field Generators were able to sneak behind us and they are trying to flank us. I'm not sure we can hold them alone."

"Shavit!" he muttered to himself. "OK, take a couple battalions and engage them, I will be there momentarily," Nicho said.

Nicho gathered the Force into his legs and jumped his way to the back of their forces, where sure enough were Mandalorians. The Republic forces couldn't seem to break through their wall of troops. Nicho knew that if he breached their formation the Republic forces could beat back the Mandalorians. He started to run at the wall of troops, using the Force to propel himself at an incredible speed, making him a human battering ram. He thrust his Lightsabers in front of him and punched a hole through the Mandalorians cutting down all who got in his way. He froze any Mandalorians standing near him, and sent a shock wave to knock them back. He yelled at his troops to charge and they poured into the breach in their formation, blasting them from the inside out. They were winning, the Mandalorians were falling back Mandalore dead and moral lost.

Then, all hell broke loose.

The Mass Shadow Generator was activated. Nicho was amazed at the damage it caused to the Mandalorian fleet, but was surprised and then horrified when it did the same thing to the Republic forces. Had Revan known it would do the same thing to their forces, had he known and decided to do it anyway? His thoughts were interrupted when the ships started crashing down on Malachor V all around them. One ship, a Republic vessel, was headed straight for Nicho and his troops, and he couldn't let his men die. He gathered the remaining power he had and pushed it at the ship trying to make it stop. He managed to slow it down, but not stop it. Since he wasn't able to stop it, he used the Force to try and redirect it elsewhere; he was successful, but only barely. He continued to protect his men until the rain of ships stopped. Nicho looked around at the destruction; fires dotting the surface of Malachor, dead bodies of Republic and Mandalorian forces alike. Nicho knelt to the ground and cried. He cried for all the dead and wounded, for the families that would never see their relatives again, and for the sacrifices that had been made to win the war.

* * *

With the destruction of Malachor V and the Mandalorians complete, the Republic decided that the war was over, however, Revan and Malak did not. They said a new war was just beginning. Most didn't understand when they had said it, but Nicho did. He had seen them slip to the dark side already, had noticed their features and characteristics change, and now they wanted to turn on the Republic and destroy it. Nicho hadn't said anything and ignored it until now, thinking they would turn back to the light, but he realized he couldn't ignore it any longer.

Nicho was now walking to the bridge of the Leviathan; he was planning on telling Revan he was leaving. He was going to go back to the Jedi Council and ask for forgiveness. As he walked he was thinking back to all the lives lost during the war, back to all the battles he had been through, and mostly back to why he had left the Jedi Order. When Revan had first suggested that they should go to war without the approval of the Council, he disagreed entirely, he couldn't bring himself to break the wishes of the council. Nicho guessed what changed his mind was the destruction of so many worlds and the loss of innocent lives. That's what he told himself, anyway. He wasn't exactly sure the real reason as to his going to war, but he felt sure it was the right thing to do. It had happened one day when Revan came to him and again asked him to join him against the Mandalorians. Nicho had refused at first, but then Revan said things, things that made sense to him and soon Nicho found himself fighting in the war.

When he got to the bridge Revan said to him without turning around, "Nicho, you did a good job on Malachor, you lead your troops well, so well in fact that I want you to follow me against the Republic in the new war as an Admiral. You are a great asset and an astounding fighter; I could use your help. What is your answer?"

Nicho noticed the general was gone and, ignoring the question, asked, "Where is the general?"

Revan turned, and looked him in the eyes and Nicho could see the look of sadness in Revan's eyes. He replied, "He left to get help. It seems that the battle had...affected him more than anyone would have thought it would." Darkness and cruelty slowly creeping back into his eyes, he continued, "But that is not important. What is important is if you will follow me in my new war."

Nicho looked at Revan, obviously not the same man that he had gone to war with only a few years ago. He quickly glanced at the door. He knew he couldn't take on Revan, so he would have to make a run for it. But before he ran, Nicho had to know so he asked, "Why are you doing this? I thought you were the savior of the Republic, not its destroyer."

Revan looked disappointed, and then Nicho fell to the ground in pain, screaming, "Get out of my head! Leave me alone! You can't control me!"

"Well I have before," Revan said with a smile on his face.

Nicho looked at him with pain etched on his face, "What do you mean?"

"Ever wonder why you joined the war? You wouldn't do it before, and I knew I would need you, so I had to make you join me. You were weak then and you are now."

"No I'm not!! This time you won't control me that easily!" Nicho waved his hand which caused Revan to stumble and distracted him enough to let Nicho's mind go. Revan yelled, "Men, arrest him." Regaining his balance he turned back to Nicho, "It looks like I will have to break you into serving me and I know just the man for the job."

Nicho ran toward the door as it was closing, using the Force to speed himself up. He was able to make it through the door just before it closed, but was faced with a dozen or so troops. He took out one of his lightsabers and cut through them with ease. He took out his other lightsaber and started to make his way to the hangar of the Leviathan.

As he made his way to the hangar, he had to fight his own men. It hurt him to have to attack the men he had known and supported throughout the war. He tried to avoid killing them or permanently damage them, but he did what had to be done to escape. Once he reached the hangar he jumped on a random ship and took off. Nicho was a descent pilot, but if not for the Force, he never would have made it out alive. The Leviathan's guns blazing all around him, he finally made it out of their range and flew off into space.

* * *

**Two years later.**

Nicho kept tabs on Revan, but at the same time staying away from his fleet so he would not be caught and killed. A bounty had been put on his head by Revan and every Sith in the galaxy was looking for him so the could have the honor of turning him in to Revan.

Nicho later found out that Malak had killed Revan and assumed the mantle of Dark Lord. He watched the following year as Malak continued to destroy the Republic, only to find out he was defeated by Revan who was in fact alive and a member of the light once more. He heard about his amazing exploits and how he found and helped destroy the Star Forge. He was glad his friend had found the light again but not long after the announcement of Revan's return he disappeared once more.

* * *

**Four years later.**

There were rumors everywhere of a Jedi exile helping the Republic. He had freed Dantooine from the mercenaries, helped Queen Talia take control of Onderon, and gotten rid of the Exchange on Nar Shadaa and the bounty on Jedi. It was later, on Citadel Station, that Nicho found out it was the general. He couldn't believe that General Joron Kraus was alive.

The first time Nicho saw Joron since the end of the Mandalorian Wars, was when the Sith assassins started attacking Telos. Nicho saw Joron, with his crewmates, cut through the Sith in order to get to the Ravager and kill the Sith Lord Nihilus waiting for them. Nicho tried to make his way to him, but was unable to when he was cut off by dark Jedi and Sith troopers. They raised their blasters and lightsabers, and all Nicho could think was, _Awwww frak. I don't have time for this!_ He took out his lightsabers and was able to kill the Sith in his way; he then wiped the memories of everyone who had seen him so that they would forget he was a Jedi. He couldn't risk being discovered, the Exchange was weakened but not destroyed and people were easily tempted by credits.

By the time he had made his way to his shuttle in the docking bay, the Ravager was destroyed, and Joron was gone.

He went up to a nearby pilot and asked him what had happened. He stared off into space, at the point where the ravager had been, and said, "There was an explosion from inside the ship. Then there were Mandalorians! Manda-frackin-lorians for cryin out loud. Then there was the exile, he flew out of the ship just before it exploded, and then they just... disappeared."

"Do you know where they might have gone?" Nicho asked.

"No idea."

"Thanks anyway." Nicho turned and went to the hanger that held his ship. He jumped in and left Telos and set a course towards Dantooine.

* * *

With Revan, Joron, and most of both their crews gone, Nicho didn't know if he should look for them or not. He came to the conclusion that he would probably never find them by just looking, he would have to find out where they were going first. Nicho searched the records of planets and found out that both the Exile and Revan had visited Dantooine before the Republic lost trace of them. When he got there, the trail went cold as he could not find a clue as to why they would go to Dantooine. He decided to meditate in the rebuilt Jedi enclave, hoping the Force would show him what he needed to know.

All of a sudden, he felt excruciating pain, the likes of which he had never felt before. He felt a disturbance so large, he couldn't concentrate on it for fear of losing his mind. He was able, however, to find out where it was coming from. The Sith world, Korriban. He departed immediately for the planet wondering what could have caused the disturbance he felt.

As Nicho landed on the planet, he could feel the disturbance, and the power of the dark side, grow stronger. He slowly made his way to the old run down Sith academy, and went in. When Nicho entered, he continued straight until he found a somewhat circular room with passageways leading off in all directions, but that wasn't what he noticed first. There was a figure standing in the middle of the room, his head covered in a hood and his back turned to Nicho. He felt the dark side seem to pour off of this figure, and it had a disturbing effect on Nicho. In his hand was a holocron. Nicho recognized the person on the holocron. "Revan," he whispered.

The strange figure went on to play the entire holocron. It said, "Nicho if you have……then I'm in the ……. I have found a race known to be the True Sith, however, I will………face them alone. I am searching for………ral already, and I have most if not all of my crew. All I ask is that you would forgive me for……did during the Mandalorian Wars," Revan chuckled, "I'm also sorry I can't apologize for the exact thing I did………memories have been erased. I'm asking you Nicho, find me and help save the galaxy from the Sith. Bring as many as you can with you, but please hurry."

"How'd you get that?" Nicho asked, immediately wishing he hadn't. The dark figure turned to him and took out a lightsaber. "Damnit," Nicho muttered.

They engaged each other, and right away he could tell he was at a disadvantage. Every lightsaber swing Nicho threw at him was parried with ease; he just wasn't able to break through the mysterious figure's defense. Things didn't get any easier. The figure, Nicho realized, was only toying with him. Frustrated Nicho increased the rate of his swings hoping for a hit. The figure only started to laugh and began to attack in earnest. He attacked with such anger and passion, it almost overwhelmed Nicho. He was able to hold his own, but he was quickly tiring. That's when he got caught off guard. The figure picked Nicho up and flung him across the room, slamming him into a wall. He was unable to hold onto his lightsabers as they fell from his hands and rolled away. Before he was even able to get to his feet, the figure was right in front of him, the only thing to be seen on his face was his teeth, formed into a smile. Nicho couldn't do anything but watch as the figure thrust his lightsaber through his chest and exiting out his back, blood spraying onto the wall behind him.

Nicho fell to the ground, a gaping hole in his chest. He saw the figure put away his lightsaber and walk away. Things started to blur and Nicho closed his eyes letting the darkness consume him.


	2. Chapter 2 The Journey Begins

Chap. 2 The Journey Begins

**Nar Shadaa**

Nicho slowly opened his eyes as he sat up. He looked around him and saw he was in a small room that only contained the bed he was laying on. He grunted in pain as he pulled himself up and flung his feet off the side of the bed. He grabbed his chest, the image of the lightsaber going through him still vivid in his mind. Nicho tried to remember how he got here, but the last thing he remembered were a few voices talking as he slipped in and out of conciousness.

_"Hey maybe we'll find something in here, think we should check?" a female voice asked._

_"Yea fine lets go," this time a male voice. "Hey what's that?"_

_"It's a person! Look, he's hurt!"_

_"Grab a hold of him we can't let him die." Nicho fell back into unconciousness._

_Later he woke again, "Can...trust him?"_

_"I...know"_

_"He has a..., must be...Jedi"_

_"...evil or..."_

That's all he could remember before he woke up in this room. He slowly got up and went to the door and walked into the next room. It was empty except for a few chairs and a makeshift table made of boxes. He sat down in one of the chairs and decided to wait until whoever saved him showed up. It wasn't long before they walked in and were startled to see him. They took a seat across from him and they quietly talked to eachother. The two people that were sitting across from him was an odd pair to say the least; one was a blue twi'lek, and the other was a man. The two of them had saved him on Korriban, and the prominent question on Nicho's mind was why they were there. He decided to interrupt their convesation. "Excuse me, I know you two saved but why and what were you two doing there?"

They looked at him, ignored him, and continued talking. Since they seemed to avoid the question, Nicho decided not to press with it.

Nicho thought for a moment and then slowly reached out with the Force. He tried to touch their minds, but felt resistence. He tried again and this time he was pushed back vigorously. Then he noticed the two were glaring at him. _Uh-oh,_ he thought, _this isn't good. _It didn't occur to him until a moment later that what had just happened meant that the two in front of him were Force sensitive. That also explained how they were able to save him, but that wasn't the most surprising part. Once they stopped glaing Nicho apologized and they decided to tell him their names. The man's name was Dustil Onasi and the twi'lek's was Mission Vao. He knew the two had known Revan and asked if they had seen him. They replied no, but said they were searching for him hoping to help him stop what ever was threatening the Republic. Mission and Dustil went on to ask him some questions, and he went on to tell them about his time in the Mandalorian Wars, his role in the final battle, his escaping when Revan had fallen, and finally, his run in with the strange figure and the task Revan had given him in the holocron.

Nicho decided to ask, "Well, since we seem to have the same goal, why don't we travel together?"

Mission looked at Dustil, and he nodded. "We would be happy to join you," he replied.

"Good, but before we leave I do have a couple questions for you guys."

"Shoot," Mission said.

"You metioned that you were looking for Revan too. So how come you guys didn't go with him in the first place?"

Mission looked at Dustil and gave him a look that said '_I got this one'_, "Well, after we destroyed the Star Forge, they gave us medals and welcomed Revan back into the Jedi Order and all that stuff. After the ceremony and the interviews, Master Vandar asked us if we would join him back on Coruscant and report to the Jedi Masters of our travels. They wanted to know everything that had happened during our mission, and I mean everything. There was a problem with that, however, you see Revan and Bastila fell in love and as you know that's against the Jedi Code."

"It started out with quips at each other, but the crew and I saw what was going on. It was funny really because Bastila was always going on about being a stout Jedi and not breaking the rules, when she was breaking the biggest one of all. They had thought about lying to the Council, but knew that they would see through the lies right away. Everything was going fine until they told them that. Vrook almost exploded Bastila said. Once the council found out, they were't very happy, as you can imagine. They sent them to different planets to do missions for the council, but they knew it was really just to seperate them. The council hoped that by doing this it would weaken their bond. No matter how hard they tried, though, it seemed the months apart made their love for each other stronger."

"One day Revan decided to go see the councill. I was waiting for him 'cause we were gonna go to lunch and hang out, but he he came out of the room fuming! I asked what was wrong but he said he didn't want to talk about it. The next day he was gone. He was gone for a couple years and Bastila was a mess. He never said good bye or told her where he was going, she just couldn't understand why. She confided in me and I got her mind off of Revan for a while anyway. That was about the time the Jedi Exile showed up. He helped out and all, but he was gone before you could blink."

"Revan eventually came back, but something was different. He looked troubled all the time and jittery. Later on, Zalbaar decided that he had spent enough time away from his home on Kashyyk, so he went back to Kashyyk and since I always traveled with him, I followed. Big mistake on my part, well...sort of. That was when I met Dustil. Anyway, that's not important right now. Back on Coruscant, Carth was with Revan and I asked him to tell me if anything was happening. He told me how Revan was seeing the council every day and talking to the Supreme Chancellor. About a year after I had gone back to Kashyyk, I stopped getting messages from Carth. I decided to check it out and head over there with Dustil, only to find that Revan and everyone else left known space. When I went back to Kashyyk, Zalbaar was missing too. So much for letting me know, the bastard. The whole damn crew probably thought it was too dangerous for me," she sat there quiet for a second then, "So anyway, there you go. That's the whole story."

Nicho shifted in his seat, thinking over what Mission had told him. He looked at Mission, "I think you're right. The reason you were left behind is because they were going to find the True Sith. Trust me, it would be very dangerous, as you can see by my current condition. Second question. So, uh, how are the two of you trained in the Force? You didn't mention that."

Dustil answered, "I was trained by the Sith," but added quickly when he saw Nicho's shocked look, "I turned away from them when my father and Revan had shown me that they had killed my friend."

"I was trained by Dustil. He saw the faint light of the Force in side me. I didn't believe him at first, but...," Mission said hesitantly.

"Well, go on. How did he convince you to go along with the training?" Nicho asked.

"Well... I-I..." Mission stuttered as a blush came to her face and she looked down at her feet.

Nicho looked over at Dustil, who was also blushing and wouldn't meet Nicho's gaze. Nicho smiled, "Say no more, I understand. Guess Bastila wasn't the only one who broke the rules."

"Hey, technically we aren't Jedi," Dustil pointed out.

"Yea, I wasn't officially brought into the Jedi Order and neither was Dustil."

"Ok, Ok. Back to my other questions, how were you two able to keep away from the Exchange while that bounty was out for Jedi?"

Dustil looked over at Mission, and then said, "If it wasn't for Mission's connections, we probably would have been found and turned in for the bounty by now."

"I see," Nicho said while standing up. "Well, we really need to get going. We can talk more on the trip. Revan said he needed help so we need to find him." Nicho hadn't thought about it until now, so he turned and asked, "Do either of you have lightsabers?"

"I do," Dustil said, "but Mission doesn't because we didn't have any parts to make one."

"Well then," Nicho replied, "it's a good thing I carry some spare parts and a crystal. Mission, come here, I'll show you how to make a lightsaber."

Dustil sat down and watched as Nicho went on to teach Mission how to build her very own lightsaber. He thought Nicho was a good guy, and was trustworthy. When they had found him on Korriban, they had been searching for clues as to where Revan was, but instead they had found him. He was hanging on to life by a thread. Dustil still couldn't believe he was still alive after beig stabbed through the chest like that, and thought he must be tougher than he looks. If he was that tough, though, for him to lose must mean that this figure he told them about, this Sith or whatever it was, must have been extremely powerful.

Before Dustil even realized, they were done and Nicho was teaching her how to wield it, and use the Force to help guide her actions. Dustil watched his love quickly get the hang of it. Yes, it was true; they had fallen in love. It had all started when Mission and Dustil had first met on the forest world of Kashyyk. Dustil had gone there to try to befriend some wookies, so he could get into the Shadowlands to train. Instead, he ran into Mission and Zalbaar. They hadn't met before because when Revan found Dustil, his father and Jolee were with him. At first they didn't get along very well, but they grew fond of each other as the months passed. They began to go everywhere together, and eventually Zalbaar noticed. He told them that they had done enough for the wookies and to go to other planets and help other people. Mission reffused of course, but later left when she stopped gettng reports from Carth. He decided to go with her, and since they got back and Zalbaar wasn't there, they decided they should go help other people. They decided that the best place to go was Nar Shadaa, a place where the oppression was immense. Things had gotten better, but they found people that needed help. They helped everyone they could, and somewhere along the line, they had fallen for each other.

Only minutes seemed to pass for Dustil , but in reality, an hour had passed since Nicho had started teaching Mission. Nicho looked over at Mission and watched as she twirled the lightsaber around her careful not to cut herself. She took her time, let the Force control her actions. Soon her swings became fluid and less forced. It wasn't the best form, but Nicho figured it would have to do.

Dustil's reminiscing was interrupted by a tap on the shoulder by Nicho. "It's time to go," he said, "Mission has the hang of it now. Oh, and while we are traveling, I will be glad to train you both in higher more advanced lightsaber forms so you guys can be prepared for everything."

"What about your injury?" Mission asked.

"I'll be fine," Nicho replied, trying to keep himself from flinching from the pain. He didn't want these two to see pain on his face, so he turned to look out the small window. He decided he probably shouldn't move to much, so he told them that they should rest for the night.

Nicho slowly got into his bed, _I have a crew, one that is gonna help me find Revan. I just hope I can trust them.

* * *

_The next day, as they made their way to the docks where their ship was, they ran into some thugs ruffing up a man for some credits. Nicho thought about ignoring it and walking by, but he sighed, _I'm to nice for my own good._ Nicho walked up and asked, "Is there a problem here?"

One of the thugs, a Trandoshan, turned, "Why don't you guys just mind your own buisness?"

Mission piped up, "I think you should back off pal."

"[I'm not going to take that from you. Come on guys we can take them."

Nico pulled out his lightsaber and held it in front of him, "You guys know what this is?"

Fear crossed the Trandoshan's face as he looked around. "Look we don't trouble from no Jedi. We'll leave the guy alone just don't hurt us."

"Fine just leave." The thugs ran off and Nicho turned to the man and asked, "Are you all right?"

"Nicho? Is that you?" the man asked.

"Do I know you?"

"Aw come on. You gotta remember me. I was with you on Malachor."

Nicho thought back and it hit him, "You're the captain that warned me about the flanking Mandalorians! Beron Qualus right?"

"Yea!"

"What happened? How did you get here?"

"Well when Revan announced his war against the Republic I heard that you had left and was a wanted man. I agreed with your decision to leave so I deserted too, and went into hiding. I couldn't let them find me or I would have been killed. I tried to look for you but I couldn't find you anywhere. I came here but unfortunetly, I lost everything when the Exchange took over. The Exile came to help but I still pretty much have nothing. Since I don't have any money I've been stuck here."

"Hey, you could come with us, though, I don't know if what we're doing is safe. If you are up for another adventure that is," Nicho smiled.

Beron smiled back, "Hey I followed you to Malachor, I'll follow you now."

"That's great!" Nicho said. "Come on we're leaving now."

With their new companion, they again set off for the ship, this time without any mishaps. Before they departed, Dustil asked, "So, where are we going exactly?"

Nicho answered, "We are going to the Bothan world of Bothawui. They have the best spy network in the galaxy, and if anyone has information on Revan or the True Sith, it's them."

They left Nar Shadaa, and set the hyperspace coordinates for Bothawui. Once they had jumped to hyperspace, they had some time to kill so they decided to do some training. Nicho was never able to take on his own padawan because he had gone to war, but he tried his best to teach them what he knew. Beron stood off to the side watching them with eyes that seemed familiar with the lightsaber forms.

* * *

The ship wasn't huge, but it fit their needs. Neither Dustil nor Mission had named the ship, so Nicho decided to call it the _Interceptor_. Nicho spent most of the time in the cockpit, while Dustil and Mission stayed in the port dorm and Beron slept wherever he felt like. In the small garage they had, there was a workbench and a swoop bike. Nicho took note of the bike, thinking it would come in handy if they ever needed some credits. They had a cargo hold where Nicho kept his stuff in one of the four lockers they had. There were a couple other unimportant rooms, but besides that the ship was a good size. 

Dustil and Mission had gone to their dormitory, and so Nicho decided to leave them alone. While he sat in the cockpit, he thought about where he would go first when they reached the Bothan planet. Most people still hated Revan for what he had done, and Nicho didn't know if he could find anyone to help him.

While Nicho was in the cockpit pondering on what to do, Mission and Dustil talked about this stranger they had found on Korriban.

"Do you think we can trust him?" Dustil asked.

"He reminds me a lot of Revan, and he seems trustworthy," She replied.

"We'll have to keep an eye on him, and watch him very closely just in case."

"I agree, but I really think he can help us find Revan."

Dustil smiled and kissed her on the cheek, "I knew you would."

* * *

When they had landed on Bothawui, they were asked to pay the docking fee. Nicho waved his hand aat the man and told him he ealready did. The guard let them through and they made their way to Drev'starn, the capital city of the Bothan planet. The four of them knew they had to gain access to the Bothan spy network, but knew that first they would need to find one of the operatives. They decided that the best place to go to find someone was the local cantina. If there was ever a better place to find people than at a cantina Nicho didn't know where it was.

* * *

(A/N): Forgot to put this in my last chap. this is a story I wrote on another site and I am posting it here, but the chaps are revised, though this chap never did turn out the way I wanted it.


	3. Chapter 3 Bothan Spies

Chapter Three Bothan Spies

**Bothawui, Cantina**

As the three companions entered the cantina, they began to look around. Nobles littered the place, waving their credits around like they owned everything, which by the way the waiters and waitresses acted could be very close to the truth. The cantina had four main rooms all branching out from a main bar area. The first branch was a dueling arena where, at the moment a match was being held. The second branch was a pazaak den where gamblers were either celebrating in joy or smacking their heads in frustration, and the third room was where the twi'leks were dancing. Finally the fourth room was like the lounge area, where everyone sat around drinking and talking, which was where the group decided to go. Nicho turned to the two behind him and said, "I think we should split up. You guys should go talk to some locals and see what you can findout about the place. Beron, hang around and see if you hear anything."

"What are you gonna do ?" Dustil asked.

"I'm going to go into the dueling arena," Nicho replied.

"Yea that'll be real helpful," Mission asked in a sarcastic tone.

"I'm not going to participate, just...watch and listen to people talk, drunk people tell many interesting stories," he replied.

"Ok, whatever. We'll catch ya later," Mission said. She turned and whispered to Dustil, "He just wants to do all the fun stuff."

OoOoO

Nicho decided that he would go and enter the dueling circle and see if he could have some fun. It turned out that he didn't have any fun as he wiped the floor with anyone who stepped into the ring. He sighed, _Man that was boring, now what?_

Beron was leaning on a wall off to the side listening to the many conversations taking place, but he didn't hear anything worth telling Nicho. He scanned the crowd, but they weren't interesting. He decided to go to the bar. He figured he might as well do something he enjoyed while doing work.

He sat at the bar thinking when he spotted a strange robed figure sitting off to the side. He couldn't see the face, and the robes covering the body kept him from telling if it was a male or female. He watched as the head moved around looking, searching. Twice it stopped and looked back. Once was when it spotted Nicho, and the second time was when it saw a second hooded figure. Beron looked over at the second figure, he didn't see much, except for her eyes. They were a bright green, as green as emeralds. _Strange,_ Beron thought. _Those two are giving me a bad feeling, better tell Nicho._ Beron looked down at his unfinished drink, _Ah, I'll do it after I finish my drink._

OoOoO

Mission and Dustil were having some trouble. Everyone they talked to was either too drunk to tell them anything, or they were stuck up and wouldn't talk to them.. Mission looked at Dustil and said?While Nicho and Beron are off having all the fun we're stuck here doing all the work. I think that's unfair!"

"Calm down, at least we're trying to do something productive," Dustil replied.

"Oh yea, talking to everyone in the cantina and not getting anything useful is really productive," she retorted.

"We're starting to sound like an old married couple, let's not fight. Don't worry, we'll think of something," Dustil said as he put his arm around her.

OoOoO

Nicho just got the last of his winnings, for a total of 5,000 credits. He put the credits in his pocket thinking that maybe he could go buy a couple glasses of juma. He started walking around the cantina looking for Dustil and Mission, when a beautiful twi'lek waitress came over and said, "Hey handsome, that Bothan in the corner says he wants to see you," she smiled at Nicho. "Hey, maybe when you're done you could come see me. Ask for Nula'ma," she added.

"I'll do that," Nicho replied. Winking at her, he made his way to the back of the cantina. He saw the Bothan sitting alone at the far table in the corner. "Doesn't look conspicuous at all," Nicho sarcastically said to himself. As he approached, the Bothan noticed he was coming, and stood up to shake his hand.

"The name is Kruoshk Trec'klo," the Bothan said.

"My name is...," but Nicho was interrupted before he could finish.

"I know who you are. _You_ are Nicho Morn. I am part of the Bothan spy network, so its my job to know who you are. I not only know who you are, but also your background, and what you are doing here on this planet. Plus, you are very famous in the cantina for being champion of the battle arena."

Nicho chuckled to himself. They were on the planet for little over two hours and they were already watched, and they never even noticed. The Bothans truly were the best spies in the galaxy.

"Anyway," the Bothan continued, "I know you are looking to gain access to the spy networks so you can look up any information on Revan. We have monitered your conversations and have determined that much. My superiors and I know Revan is a good man even if the rest of the galaxy does not. What they don't know is that you are looking for him. I neglected to tell them that piece of information because I feel your operation needs to be kept a secret. I will help you on two conditions. You must agree to them no matter what they are. Ok?"

"Whatever it is, as long as I can find my friend, I'll do it." Nicho quickly replied.

"Good. First, you have to help me stop a powerful gang boss from trying to take over the spy network. If he gains control of it, then you don't get the answers you want."

"Whoa whoa whoa. Hold on, if you guys know this then why not stop the attack yourselves?"

"Well, my superiors think that they will never be able to break into our base. I, however, know differently. They may not have an army, but they have a large enough force to break through our defenses. I have tried telling them this, but they simply won't listen. So I come here to seek your help."

"Ok, I'll help you. Now what was your second condition?"

"Well, I was wondering if you would allow me to accompany you on your journey."

"Why would you want to come with us?"

"No reason, I just feel you could use another blaster."

Nicho knew that wasn't the real answer, but he didn't say anything, he didn't want to lose the Bothan's trust. "If you wouldn't mind coming with me, I need to find my friends."

They started looking around the bar, and when they found them, it wasn't a pretty sight. Both Mission and Dustil had their lightsabers drawn and were surrounded by a large mass of people. Nicho nodded at Kruoshk who understood and pulled out his blasters. Beron walked up next to Nicho and asked, "Need a hand?"

"I wouldn't mind. Hey Kruoshk, you know any of them?"

Kruoshk leaned over to Nicho and whispered, "Some of these guys are bounty hunters, but the others belong to that group trying to take over the spy network."

"I wonder what they did to piss them off," Beron said.

Nicho smiled to himself as he pulled out one of his lightsabers. He then walked up to one of the guys, and punched him in the face.

The others there were surprised to see their comrade fall to the ground, out cold. Out of rage they charged at Nicho, blasters firing. Nicho stood there as Beron and Kruoshk took almost all of them out. Nicho was about ready to kill the last one, when Kruoshk told him, "Stop. Don't kill this one; I need to ask him a few questions." The Bothan took the injured man and walked off.

Dustil was the first to ask, "Who is that, and why did he help us?"

Nicho replied, "His name is Kruoshk Trec'klo. He's part of the Bothan spy network, and he wants to help us get the info we need. He asks two things of us, though. He wants us to help stop an attack on the spy base, and he wants to come with us. I told him it was fine."

"You did what?" Mission exclaimed.

"I told him we would help him," Nicho replied.

Don't you think you should have asked us first? We need to make decisions as a team," Mission said.

"Sorry, you're right, I just didn't think about it."

"It's fine, just try to remember next time ok?"

"I will," Nicho said.

They were both surprised to see that Dustil and Beron had gone over to a table and they hadn't noticed. Dustil had ordered drinks for all of them, and was just sitting there waiting. They walked over and Dustil said, "I see you two finally stopped fighting."

"We weren't fighting. We were just talking," Nicho said.

Beron asked, "Everything cleared up between you two then?"

Mission said, "Yes everything is fine."

While they were sitting there waiting for the Bothan to return, they shared the little info they had gathered. They were interrupted a couple times when some drunken cantina patrons walked up to them and started hitting on Mission. Both Nicho and Dustil told them to keep walking unless they wanted their necks snapped in half. Other than that, they were not disturbed.

Finally, Kruoshk came back, but without the gang member. They asked him what he had done with the guy, but he refused to tell them. Nicho then asked, "So what did you find out from the guy?"

Kruoshk replied, "That we'll have to prepare for that attack sooner than expected."

"What exactly do you mean by sooner than expected?" Nicho asked.

"Well it seems that the attack has been moved to today."

"Today?!?!" Beron yelled. "There is no way we would be able to make it in time to stop them. Besides, why would they just all of a sudden change the date of attack?"

"I don't know. I suspect it is because their leader is one of our former agents, you see. He knows the base like the back of his hand, and as I told you before, they have a strong attack force. They most likely figured if they attack today, they'll catch the base off guard."

"Who is this agent, and why does he want to take over the spy network?" Dustil asked.

"Well, his name is Asshk Vri'hen. He was thrown out of the agency after it was found out that he was stealing secret files on important rulers, and blackmailing them for his own gain. We were to put him under watch so the information never got leaked, but he escaped. We never saw him after that, and figured he had left the planet and would leave us alone; we were wrong obviously. My superiors hadn't actually figured out that it was him leading this attempt at a takeover until a couple days ago. As I told you, my superiors believed him to be a non threat and waved it off."

"That was when you decided to take matters into your own hands, right?" Nicho asked.

"Yes, but we don't have time for talking. We need to head straight to the heart of their small army, Asshk Vri'hen himself," Kruoshk replied. "They won't be attacking for about one standard hour; that should give us enough time to get to the base and stop them."

"Do you know where the base is?" Mission asked.

"Yes I do. You see, the reason I was in the cantina was because there is a secret entrance here somewhere, it was just luck that you decided to come to the cantina as well."

"There is no such thing as luck, the Force led me here," Nicho said.

"Believe what you will, whether it be luck or the Force, the important thing is that I found someone who can help," he replied. "The gang member that I was interrogating gave me the location to get into the base."

"That's good, so where is the entrance?" Dustil asked.

"It's under the bar."

They walked up to the bar and the bartender, a Bith, turned to them. He asked, "What can I get for you guys?"

"You can get us entry into the base that's under this cantina," Kruoshk whispered to him.

"Ok, right away."

Nicho and the others followed the Bith down the long corridor. Kruoshk was walking off to the side, looking around, being extra cautious. The Bith didn't ask who they were or why they wanted to get into the base, and it got him thinking that all of it was too easy. Unfortunately, he was right because as they turned the next corner, the Bith was off running and gang members were everywhere.

Kruoshk and Beron pulled out their blasters as their friends reached for their lightsabers. They were too late, the last thing he remembered was the concussion grenade going off and knocking him unconscious.

OoOoO

Dustil awoke in a cell with a headache. It seemed that they were split up and put in different holding cells. There were a couple guards standing there, but they didn't seem too interested in actually watching them. He reached out to one of the guards and touched his mind and said, "You want to let me out and free my friends."

"Nice try, but that trick doesn't work on me," came the reply.

Dustil decided that he would have to think of a better plan. He looked around him trying to find something that would get him out but didn't see anything. He looked at the shield blocking him, and realized that they had one major flaw: they were susceptible to overload. He decided to see if he could short circuit the shield by using his lightning. He used all his concentration to put as much power into this blast of lightning. He was afraid it wasn't going to work at first but he saw the shield blibk on and off and then a spark come from the corner of the shield. It flickered, and then shut down. The guards turned in surprise as Dustil sent a bolt of lightning at them, but only managed to kill one as the four others jumped to the sides. He leapt through the air and landed in front of one and punched him in the gut and turned and kicked the next guy in the head snapping it. As the thrid man went for his blaster, Dustil launched himself at him and slammed his shoulder into him. He staggered back and Dustil grabbed his neck and with a quick jerk snapped it. The first man was recovering from his blow and rushed Dustil and as he reached him, Dustil shoved his palm into the man's nose shattering it and sending the bone straight into his head killing him instantly. Blood sprayed over Dustil as he looked over his shoulder at the last man. It was a scary sight and with a whimper the last man ran for his life. _He'll be back , and with friends, _he thought, _Better get the guys out quick_. He walked toward the panel on the wall and pressed the shield release.

Nicho opened his eyes to the sight of Dustil killing all the guards, save for one. He had a splitting headache, and could barely stand. Nicho shook his head trying to clear his mind and waited to be set free. They met in the middle of the room and tried to figure out a plan. First they had to find their equipment so they had to figure out which room had their stuff. Mission hacked into the terminal and located the room and Nicho and Kruoshk set out to get their supplies as the rest stayed behind. Kruoshk had told them the bigger the groups the easier it is to be captured. As Nicho and Kruoshk slowly made their way down the hall to the room they, strangely enough, didn't find any guards. That is until they opened the door. Inside, there were six guards all of whom turned in surprise as the door opened, they never saw what hit them. Before any of them could react, they were all picked up and slammed into the closest wall, unconscious before they hit the ground. Nicho and Kruoshk found their equipment stashed in some storage lockers, and gathered it all and headed back to the cells.

OoOoO

After Nicho had finished putting on his Jedi robes, he turned to Kruoshk and asked, "So what do we do now?"

"We do what we came to do, to find Asshk Vri'hen and take him out," was the answer.

All of a sudden the alarms started going off. Dustil said, "It seems they know we're missing."

A voice came from the speakers in the room, 'LOCKDOWN INITIATED.'

Nicho looked at his companions and said, "We're going to need to split into two groups. The first one is Mission and Dustil, and what you guys have to do, is go and shut off the lockdown ,we wll need to get out of here once we're done. Kruoshk, Beron, and I will take care of Asshk."

With that the two groups went there own ways to complete their missions.

OoOoO

Dustil and Mission were running down one of the halls in the hidden base. They had no idea where they were or where to find the control room. Mission knew that if they could find a terminal she would be able to hack into it and download a map. As they turned the next corner, on their left was a door. They decided to head into the room, and were met with a dozen or so gang members and half a dozen droids. "Shavit," Dustil muttered to himself. He pulled out his lightsaber in time to deflect the blaster bolts shot at him. He managed to redirect a few back at the droids, disabling most of them. Mission dove into the room lightsaber swinging and took out the legs of two of the droids. She then lunged at the remaining guards and swung her lightsaber. All of them were cut in half and fell to the ground in a mound of pieces.

Meanwhile, Nicho, Beron, and Kruoshk were running down corridors looking for Asshk. Nicho turned to Kruoshk and asked, "Do you have any idea where in this humongous base we can find Asshk?"

"Not a clue," he said, "but I'm sure if we find one of the gang members we can ask them."

"Yep, I'm sure that if we ask nicely they'll tell us everything we need to know," Beron retorted.

"No need to get nasty, you know what I mean."

"Sorry."

They continued down the corridors and turned a corner where they practically ran into a group of guards. They backed up and held up their clasters, Nicho's hand twitched and their blasters flew from their hands and clattered on the ground a few feet away. "We can do this the easy way or the hard way. The easy way is that you tell us where to find Asshk and you don't die. Hard way is we make you tell us and then kill you. So which will it be?" Nicho asked them.

They looked at each other and then ran. "Damn. Fine hard way it is," Nicho muttered. Nicho threw his hand straight up and all of them were thrown into the ceiling, and then he slammed his palm onto the ground. The gang members crashed to the floor, unconcious or dead. Nicho picked up an unconcious man and woke him up. "Where is Asshk?" Nicho said as menacingly as he could. The guard told them to go to the throne room just as an alarm went off.

OoOoO

Mission had just finished downloading the map to the base when they were attacked again. When they had broken into the room and accessed the terminal an alarm had gone off and ever since then there had been a steady stream of droids and soldiers attacking the room. Now there were only three soldiers that had tried coming into the room and Dustil easily took care of them. "We're ready, let's get the hell outta here," Mission said.

"Good idea, so which way are we supposed to go?" Dustil asked.

Mission looked down at her datapad and turned right as she said, "It says we go straight down this hall, make a left, go through the barracks, and it should be at the end of the hall."

"Frak, the barracks is probably crawling with soldiers.," he said.

"We can take 'em," Mission replied.

"Then lets go get 'em," he said smiling at her.

They ran through the base and when they finally made it to the barracks, they were greeted by what seemed like a half battalion of troops, defense turrets, and battle droids. _Son of a..._ Dustil thought, _What do we do now?_ Dustil let out a sigh and turned to Mission, "You ready?"

"Ready as I'll probably ever be," she replied.

The duo jumped right into the middle of the group. Mission swung her lightsaber in a wide arc around her, arms were severed, men cut in half, and legs cut off. Blood sprayed everywhere as men fell to the ground in agony. Dustil had thrown his lightsaber and it went straight through a droid's torso, and then he pulled it back to him. He jumped and grabbed his lightsaber as blaster fire peppered the spot he had been standing in only a moment before. As he landed he rolled and when he came up he decapitated three droids and jumped away again as the turrets let loose a barrage of blaster bolts. He short circuited the turrets with lightning and they fired in random directions before they shut down. On the other side of the room, Mission was losing ground, that is until one of the soldiers was dumb enough to throw a grenade at her. She stopped it before it reached her and pushed it back at them. They tried to get out of the way of the blast radius, but it was too late.

They were cleaning up the remaining guards when Dustil looked over his shoulder and saw the door leading to the control room, inside was the terminal they were looking for. "There's the control room. Get in there and find the terminal; hack into the system and I'll keep watch," Dustil said to Mission as sweat dripped off his face.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Mission answered. Dustil stood in front of Mission protecting her from blaster fire as he tried to redirect the bolts back at the attackers. Dustil relaxed as the last soldier went down. _Whew, that takes care of one problem, _he thought.

As Mission got to work, Nicho and his two companions quietly made their way into the throne room. They looked around, but Asshk was nowhere to be found. "What now?" Nicho asked, but before he could respond droids surrounded them and out walked a Bothan. Nicho turned to Kruoshk and asked, "Is that Asshk?"

"The one and only."

Asshk stood in front of them and said, "Well look what we have here, a couple of cantina rats looking for some trouble. Oh my, if it isn't Kruoshk himself, to what do I owe this honor?"

"We've come to stop you!" Nicho exclaimed.

"Have you now? Well you're doing a pretty good job so far," he said mockingly.

"Really? Thanks but there are a few things we could improve on, lets start by killing you," Kruoshk shot back.

Asshk turned to his droids and ordered, "Kill them, and when you have done that take care of the other two in the base." The droid nodded and Asshk walked away.

"Got any ideas?" Beron asked.

"Nope, I've decided that I'm just gonna wing it," Nicho answered.

"Great, we're doomed."

Elsewhere in the base, Mission was at the control room terminal trying to shut off the lockdown. It wasn't going very well. It was chaotic, reinforcements had shown up and there was blaster fire all around here, and not only that but the alarm was really staring to piss her off. She typed in a few commands and the door shut and sealed. Dustil fell to the ground exhausted. "Thanks," he said. Next, she shut the alarm off and then continued to try and crack the lockdown.

"No problem," she replied.

"Uh-oh," Dustil said.

"What?"

"Can you work a little faster they're cutting through the door."

"I'm trying, Ok?" She turned back to the terminal and let out a sigh. _Frak, frak, frak, _she thought. She worked furiously, afraid she wouldn't get it before they broke through.

"Calm down," Dustil said, "You need to calm down."

"You're right, you're right. Sorry," she replied. Mission cleared her mind. She knew she had to think clearly or they wouldn't make it. Finally, after what seemed like hours, she hacked the terminal and shut off the lockdown. She was relieved and looked over at Dustil smiling, "Let's go find our friends and get out of here." She pushed a few buttons and the door flew open, much to the surprise of the soldiers.

OoOoO

The trio were standing in the middle of a group of droids. They had to think of a plan or else they were going to be executed. "Well this sucks," Nicho said.

"Tell me about it," Beron replied.

"Yea," Kruoshk said.

"I think I got it. Ok, I'm gonna knock back the droids, as soon as I do start firing. Got it?"

"Not much of a plan."

"Shut up. Are you guys ready?"

"Yep."

"Good. We'll go on the count of three. One...two...three!" Nicho unleashed the Force sending the droids flying. Thedroids picked themselves up but by that time Kruoshk and Beron had started firing. The droids didn't stand a chance.

"Let's go find Asshk," Kruoshk said. "Again," he added.

It didn't take as long to find him and when they did, Mission and Dustil had already cornered him. Kruoshk pulled out a vibrosword and headed in for the kill.

"Wait," Nicho said, "you can't kill him. Maybe you could take him prisoner and lock him up."

"No, he's too dangerous. I have to kill him,there isn't another choice," Kruoshk replied coldly.

Nicho sighed, "...Alright."

What the four didn't notice was Asshk inching his way to a button on the wall. He lunged and hit the button. Kruoshk turned but it was too late. He walked over to Asshk who smirked, and that was the expression that was on his face when he died.

All of a sudden the doors started closing all around them and gas was coming out of the floor. "Crap," Dustil yelled, "we need to get out of here quick!"

They started running for the closest door and slid under it, however, it was happening all over the base. Nicho turned and asked his companions, "Anyone know what the quickest way out of here is?"

"I got a map. Here," Mission said.

Nicho looked at the map and found the nearest exit. "Follow me!" Nicho said.

They ran, sliding under doors and holding their breath. They saw the exit, but the door was closing quickly. "We're not gonna make it!" Mission exclaimed. She was right.

"Quick you two, help me cutt through this thing," Nicho said quickly. They started cutting through the door, but the gas started flowing into the room. They were half way done when Kruoshk collapsed. They wanted to stop and check on him, but they knew that if they stopped none of them would make it out alive.

They finally cut a hole in the door and climbed through. Beron grabbed Kruoshk and told the others to go on. They made it out of the base. They looked around and found themselves inside some sort of store. Nicho checked Kruoshk and found that he was barely breathing.

_Hang in there, stay with me Kruoshk, _Nicho thought. He took him from Beron and rushed out of the store and up to to the first person he saw, "Where is the hopital?!" The man pointed Nicho in the direction of the hospital and he took off at a run. He checked Kruoshk again as he was running, he wasn't breathing and his pulse was almost non-existant. "No Kruoshk! Stay with me damnit!" Nicho kept going , the hospital in sight Kruoshk's life slipping away.

OoOoO

Kruoshk awoke in an all white room. "I must be in a hospital, I hate hospitals. Why can't they be more cheerful?" he muttered to himself.

Nicho walked in to the room followed by Mission and Dustil. Mission rushed over to the side of the bed, "I'm so glad you're all right. We were all so worried about you."

"Don't worry, they'll have to do better than that to get rid of me," he happily replied. "So what happened to me, I can barely remember anything after klling Asshk? And wheres Beron?""

"Beron is talking to the doctor. He'll be here soon," Nicho said.

"What happened was that while we were trying to escape the gang base, you inhaled some of the poison gas. You almost died," Dustil answered.

"Well thats comforting," Kruoshk said sarcastically. "So how long 'til I get out of here?"

At that time Beron walked in the doorand hearind the question, answered, "Well the doctors said it will be a couple days until you're fully healed. I expected this so I talked with Mission, Nicho, and Dustil and we're going to stay and wait until you're better. We're probably going to do some looking around, you know, the normal tourist stuff."

"No, we can go right now. I'm fine, I swear," he said trying to stand up.

Just then a nurse walked in the room and hurried over to him. She pushed him back down into the bed saying, "You shouldn't be moving, that gas has weakened your body. You need to rest." She checked all the equipment and then left the room.

"Told you," Nicho said. "Just stay in bed, we'll visit, and when they say your ready to go, we'll go."

* * *

A/N: hey everybody, just wanted to wish you all a MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR. hope you all like the revised chap. R&R please, cause i haven't gotten any yet, and that makes me sad. if no one lets me know if they like it, i don't know if i should continue to post these chapters (no i'm not bribing you with more chaps to get reviews i swear)

i'm jk, i'll probly end up posting the old chapters anyway, even the new ones, once i write them that is. hehe


	4. Chapter 4 Elswhere

**Unknown planet **

Revan sat at the small table aboard the Ebon Hawk. Across from him was Joron Kraus, the general that served him during the Mandalorian Wars. They both had a cup of caffa in their hands, slowly sipping the liquid. To Revan, it was a surprise to see his old friend again tt had happened so quickly.

They were flying through unknown space, when Carth started yelling for Revan to come to the bridge. Revan ran to the bridge expecting to hear bad news, but when he got there, Carth had a big smile on his face. "What? Why are you smiling like that, you're freaking me out," Revan said as he backed away to a safe distance in case he snapped.

Carth laughed and then had said, "You're never gonna believe this."

"Well what is it? Out with it man!" Revan had urged him.

"Well, I was sitting there when the sensors went off saying that we had incomming. I was afraid it was an enemy ship, but when I took a closer look, it turned out to be the _Ebon Hawk_!" Carth had exclaimed.

"What?! I left that behind, who could have found it?" Revan asked.

"That's where it got interesting," he laughed to himself. "I sent a message to the ship and an old friend of yours answered the call."

"Who was it?" Revan asked becoming more puzzled by the second. Then there was a shudder as something hit the ship. "What was that?"

"That was the _Ebon Hawk_, they're docking with us." Revan listened and heard the hiss of the airtight seal as the _Ebon Hawk_ finished the docking procedures.

Carth realized Revan wasn't listening and snapped his fingers at him, "Hey Were you listening? I said the person on the _Ebon Hawk_ was your old general friend Joron Kraus."

Revan immediatetly replied not believeing what he heard, "Are you serious?! I haven't seen him in years!"

As soon as Revan knew for sure that it was Joron, he had run through the ship looking for Bastila. When he found her, she was in their room looking over some data. When she heard him walk into the room she looked up from her datapad. He had a big smile on his face and he ran up and picked her up in his arms. Startled, she asked, "Why so happy?"

"An old friend has dropped by for a visit and I want you to meet him. He's also brought the _Ebon Hawk_ with him."

"Who is it?" she asked a puzzled look on her face.

His smile got bigger, "It's a surprise. Come on! Follow me!" He put her down and grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the room.

Revan took his crew, Bastila in arm, up to the Ebon Hawk. The general and Revan reunited, and they took turns introducing their crew. When introductions were finished, Revan asked to talk to Joron alone and so Revan had gotten them both a cup of caffa and they sat down at the table they were currently sitting at. Revan shifted in his seat looking at his caffa.

Revan looked up from his cup, "You mean to tell me that you beat three Sith Lords?"

"Yea, and let me tell you Kreia was one tough old bitch. She pulled out those three lightsabers out of nowhere, I thought I was a goner."

"Kreia was always strong, but she never saw eye to eye with the council, she always..." he drifted off. He snapped back and went on, "But anyway, you're here, you aren't dead, and now you can help us find the True Sith. I'm going to tell Carth to land on a planet that is as close to uninhabited as he can get, it would be best _not_ to run into anything hostile at the moment. We can rest and come up with a plan once we get there."

* * *

Bastila was sitting in her room when the white haired woman walked in, the one the general had called Brianna. She was slender, tall, and very beautiful. She was dressed in Jedi robes and a lightsaber was at her side. "Hello," she said, "My name is Brianna. I believe we met briefly before" 

"Hello, I'm Bastila. Yes we did meet and I did not get a chance to talk to you. It's nice to meet you," she replied.

"I am sorry if I am disturbing you. I will leave if you would like me to."

"No that's all right, I'd like to hear about you journey anyway."

"Sure!' Brianna said with a smile on her face.

Bastila patted the spot next to her, "Sit here."

So they talked, probably for hours. Brianna told Bastila of their journey and how she and Joron had fallen in love. How they had saved countless lives on Telos and how they were able to defeat the three Sith Lords. When she had finished, Bastila told Brianna that she and Revan had also fallen in love and told her of all their journeys. Their search for the Star Maps, the finding of the Rakatan planet and the Star Forge, and the defeat of Malak at the hands of Revan. Bastila, however, did leave out the fact that she had turned to the dark side for a short while. She did not feel that the other crew could accept that she had fallen to the dark side and come back fully. It hurt her to think about what she had done, but she was able to see a silver lining. Revan had come to her rescue; he had followed the path of light and refused to allow her to fall. His actions showed that he truly loved Bastila and that was what had saved her.

* * *

Carth strolled into the cockpit, looking around at the familiar setting. He took a seat in the pilot chair and remembered the good old days. He was just getting comfortable when he was tapped on the shoulder. He jumped and turned to see the man Joron had called Atton. Attached to his belt was a lightsaber. "Now what the hell are you doing in my chair?" he asked. 

"This ship belonged to us first and I'm pretty sure that makes this _my_ chair."

"I don't think so pal, you may have been some hot shot flyin' ace back in the day, but now you're nothing but old and washed up."

"What?" Carth yelled. "You listen and you listen well. I am the pilot of this ship so you can whine all you want, but as long as I'm aboard I sit here."

"Oh yea? Well..." and that's when Carth started seeing stars. Atton had punched him in the face!

Carth got up from his chair, nose bleeding and said, "You want a fight? Fine! You messed with the wrong guy. I'm gonna break every bone in your whole damned body."

"I'd like to see you try old man."

Carth reared back punched as hard as he could, nearly sending Atton flying. He staggered back but quickly regained his feet. Atton then lowered his shouler and tackled Carth to ground. Atton sat on top of him and went on to beat the crap out of Carth. Eventually, Carth was able to throw Atton off and he got back on his feet. Bruised and bloody, Carth charged at Atton and slammed him into the wall. Atton then aimed a punch at Carth's jaw, but he dodged to the side and followe up with an uppercut. Atton fell over backwards but used the momentum to sweep Carth's legs out from under him. Carth went down hard and Atton tried to pin him down, but Carth pulled both his feet back and kicked Atton squarely in the chest. Atton slowly picked himself up and started to walk towards Carth when a glowing arm blocked his path. It was Bao-Dur. He looked at them both and said, "You just met, can't you just get along?"

Carth looked at Bao-Dur, "He started it."

"Stop acting like children," he told them. "Now don't start that again, 'cause I'll sure as hell finish it."

"Yes mother," Atton said sarcastically. He glared at Carth, "Some other time then."

"Yea," Carth replied angrily. In the span of five minutes, the two had beaten the crap out of each other, but in thirty seconds they had already forgiven one another. After that They met again in the cockpit, but this time properly introduced themselves. They played pazaak together, unfortunately for Carth, Atton usually won and Carth ended up broke. When Atton was done taking Carth's credits they spent their time in the cockpit talking about their times in the war.

* * *

Zalbaar was walking through the familiar ship. He remembered the smells and the feel of the metal. He wished Mission was with him, but he knew it was too dangerous, and that was why he had to leave without letting her know. She was probably mad at him, but it had to be done. As he turned the corner he ran into a small red headed woman. "Ahh!" she screamed, "Hanharr!" 

"Hanharr?" Zalbaar asked a puzzled look on his face. "I do not know a Hanharr. My name is Zalbaar."

"Oh, sorry. You just looked like a wookie I know, knew I mean."

"You sounded scared when you said his name."

"Scared? I wasn't scared."

"I could smell the fear; I am a wookie you know."

"Right," she hesitated a moment, "Ok, look, he was a bounty hunter and I saved his life while he was hunting me on Nar Shadaa. He owed me a life debt, but he took it more as an insult and tried to kill me. He hunted me until I finally killed him on Malachor."

"That is not right, a life debt means you are to help that person until your debt is repaid, not kill them. You are to honor that life dept as long as you live."

"Well he wasn't your normal wookie, trust me."

"Why was he on your planet and not on Kashyyk?"

"He was brought there by slavers. Killed 'em though, and stayed there ever since."

"Why would he stay in a metal city? I would not be able to stay there; I would need to be on Kashyyk climbing the trees, being free."

"I don't know why he did but, he seemed to enjoy it. Anyway, nice to meet you but I gotta go," and she started to walk away.

"Wait, can I come with you? I am very lonely. I had to leave my friend behind since what we are doing is dangerous for her."

"Alright I guess I could let you tag along ya fur ball. Come on." So he did, and they talked. For Zalbaar, it was as if he had found another Mission, and for Mira it was her chance at forgiveness for killing Hanharr.

* * *

Later on, maybe a couple days later, Carth found an uninhabited planet, at least he thought so, and set a course for it. When they got there, Revan and Joron walked out onto the planet. Revan looked around and asked, "So how strong have you gotten since the last time we met?" 

"I beat three Sith Lords remember??"

"Yea, yea, well I beat Malak and he was ten times worse! Besides we both know who is better with a lightsaber." He looked over at Joron.

Ok, but I'm a lot better with the Force than you are."

Revan smiled, a thought popping into his head, "Between your Force powers and my lightsaber skills, who would win me or you?"

Joron smiled back, realizing what Revan was hinting at, "I'd probably kick you're ass, but there is only one way to find out." In the blink of an eye both of them had jumped away and activated their double-bladed lightsabers. Bastila heard the noise and ran down the ramp, but when she got there she let out a sigh and muttered, "Men. They always have to fight." She thought for a moment then decided to get the others and watch the fight.

Revan noticed out of the corner of his eye that the crew was gathering at the bottom of the Ebon Hawk. He laughed to himself.

"What's so funny?" Joron asked.

"Not much, just that you're gonna lose in front of everyone," he replied.

"We'll just see about that."

They slowly circled each other, lightsabers humming, neither of them making a move. Revan continued to watch Joron, waiting for him to attack first, but it never came. Revan began to feel impatient and decided to be the one who attacked first. He ran in and slashed to the right and then the other end of the lightsaber at Joron's chest. He missed both times and Joron pushed Revan away. Revan attacked again, this time thrusting one end of his lightsaber forward at Joron's head. He blocked it with his own saber and flipped away. As he flipped away, Revan lifted his hand and used the Force to confuse him, causing Joron to fall to the ground. Revan reached out his empty hand and pulled the lightsaber out of his hand. He deactivated one side of both lightsabers and began to cicle his disoriented opponent. Revan knew that in hand-to-hand combat he would win every time but he knew he would lose if he got close enough for Joron to use his Force powers on him. Revan had to think of a way to attack without becoming an open target. He measuered the distance between the two in his head, roughly forty yards, and decided it was enough to get up to full speed. He began to charge at Joron and started cutting side to side. He knew he couldn't be hit if he kept moving. Revan was a blur as he raced toward Joron and when he was within range he lashed out with his lightsabers. The only thing that protected Joron from the attacks was a Force barrier that he was using to absorb the blows. Revan was suddenly stopped when a bolt of Force lightning landed at his feet. "How the hell do you know that?" Revan asked.

"Remember that I was trained under a Sith Lord, even if I didn't know it at the time," he replied. He sent another bolt at Revan and he had to jump to the side.

All of a sudden, Joron was amassing a large amount of Force around him. Revan took a step back as he felt the wave of power push outward from Joron. Joron then transferred that energy into his hand and a ball of pure Force was formed. He threw it at Revan and he jumped over the ball. There was an explosion, a blinding light, and when Revan looked behind him there was a crater about the size of the Ebon Hawk. "Holy shit!" Revan exclaimed as he turned back to look at Joron, in his hand was another ball of energy.

Off to the side Atton turned to Carth, "20 credits on my guy."

"What? You really think Joron can win? I'll take that bet but make it 100 credits."

"You're gonna regret it, with that attack there's no way he'll lose."

"We'll see who's regretting what at the end of the battle," Carth replied as he turned back to see Revan twisting and turning to dodge the giant Force energy balls.

Revan was jumping and running everywhere trying to avoid the energy balls that were being thrown at him. He landed on a rock, but it exploded at his feet. Joron had predicted where he would land and had fired one of the energy balls at Revan before he realized it. He flew backwards and he felt Joron's lightsaber fly from his hand. Revan steadied himself in the air and landed safely on the ground. He looked for Joron but was no where to be found. Then a warning was sent through the Force and he jumped to the side. Joron landed with his lightsaber cutting into the ground where Revan had been moments before. "Looks like we're back to square one," Revan said.

"Wanna call it a draw?" Joron asked.

"Hell no," and Revan jumped at him but in a quick motion Joron moved and Revan landed with Joron's lightsaber humming dangerously close to his neck. "Damn."

"Looks like I win," Joron said.

"I'm just a little rusty that's all," he replied. They deactivated their lightsabers and walked toward their crew. Atton went up to Joron and said, "Always knew you could do it." He turned around to Carth and asked, "Where's my 100 credits?"

"I'm not giving you the credits," Carth replied.

"Look you either give them to me now or I win them in a game of pazaak. You choose," Atton said smiling.

Carth muttered to himself as he handed over the credits. Revan smiled to himself and felt a tug at his mind. Bastila talked to Revan using the link they shared, "**You seem happy for a person who just lost a battle.**"

"**Hey I said I was rusty.**"

"**Don't worry, I still love you. I think we'll have to train your Force powers, though, Joron was pretty good.**"

He sighed and Bastila frowned, "**Do I have to? I think I'll be fine. Besides I'm not to bad.**"

This time it was her turn to sigh, "**If you don't you won't get any dessert tonight.**"

Again Revan smiled, "**Aww, but mom, thats not fair!**"

**"Don't say I didn't warn you!"**

**"That's why you're here, to warn me but that doesn't mean I'm going to listen!"**

Bastila walked over and punched him in the arm. "Ow!" he exclaimed.

"Serves you right," she said trying to keep a straight face. Revan frustrated her time and again, but she was never able to stay mad at him. She guessed that's what she loved about him, his lovable self and his uncanny ability to make her laugh no matter what.

* * *

Later that night, Revan lay naked in bed thinking about what they were going to do. Bastila was asleep at his side, exhausted from the sex that had ended only minutes before. Revan pushed a stray strand of hair from her face. She stirred but did not wake up. He closed his eyes and slowly fell asleep. 

Revan was in a strange room looking at a map. It was unfamiliar to him, a map of a place he had never seen before. A small character walked up. "Hello Revan. Long time it's been."

"Master Vandar! But you died on the Miraluka world," Revan said.

"True, but become one with the Force I have. Much I have seen. Future, past, and present. Fragments they all are, but disturbing they have been. Destruction of Republic I have seen, but stop it you must."

"How?" Revan asked.

"Enemy world you must find. Find dormant race you will and destroy them. Key to the mystery the map holds." Vandar replied.

Revan looked at the map. The map started shifting the stars forming a word. He was almost able to make it out when he awoke. "Revan!" Bastila said. "You're sweating and tossing and turning. What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing," he replied, "It's all right."

She sighed, "When will you learn that you don't have to protect me?"

"I will always protect you," he replied. He reached out and pulled her close to him.

She let out a gasp at the suddenness and then set her forehead against his. "I know you will," she replied and she kissed him passionately and he returned the kiss. He moved his lips from her mouth and down her slender body, and for the second time that night they showed their passion for one another.

* * *

Joron sat at the table on the _Ebon Hawk_ early the next morning. He had his arm around his wife Brianna when Revan and Bastila walked in. "Sleep well?" Brianna asked. 

"Yea very well thank you," Bastila replied, "How about you guys?"

"We couldn't, you guys kept us up all night," Joron replied rather grouchily. Brianna elbowed him and Bastila blushed a dark shade of scarlet. Bastila quickly went and grabbed a cup of caffa and sat down at the table. "Want some honey?" Bastila asked.

"Oh, no thanks," he replied. "Excuse me I'm going to go talk to Jolee for a minute." He turned and walked out of the room. When he reached Jolee, he was sleeping. Revan knocked and waited.

"Damnit, can't a guy get some sleep. I'm an old man, I deserve my rest," Jolee said while he sat up. "What do you want?"

I need to talk to you about a dream I had," Revan said.

Jolee sighed, "If it has to do with you getting chased by rancors while you're naked I don't care."

Revan chuckled, "No, I saw Master Vandar."

Jolee sat straighter, "What do you mean?"

"He told me he had become one with the Force and he has seen the future. He saw the destruction of the Republic unless we stop the threat. He almost gave me the name to the place we need to go I think, but I woke up before I found out."

"Interesting, there's not much I can say though. Just wait, another dream will come, the next one will be clearer."

Revan sighed, "Not exactly the answer I was looking for."

"There's just no satisfying you young people is there? Damnit, just accept the answer and let me sleep." Jolee layed back down and quickly fell asleep.

_There's got to be a way to get stronger. A way so that we can stop this threat,_ Revan thought. _Hmmmm...I wonder..._

He walked back to where his wife and Joron and Brianna sat. "Joron, I'm going to have to ask a favor," Revan said.

"Name it," he answered.

"I want you to teach me the dark side Force powers."

"What? Why?" Bastila asked.

"We are gonna need everything in our arsenal to defeat the Sith. That means using their powers against them. You need to teach me...actually, you need to teach this to all of us. We need to learn to control this power without being corrupted, and you seem to know how to do that."

"Sure," Joron said.

Brianna looked at her husband and thought for a moment. "Well, if you're sure, I'll do it," she finally said.

"How bout you Bas?" Revan asked.

She thought for a couple moments, then, "Alright I'll do it."

"Joron, go wake the others, we start training immediately."

The planet was charred and had craters in it from where the crew had unleashed the power of the dark side powers on it. Those who trained under Joron were Revan, Bastila, Jolee, Mira, Atton, Bao-Dur, and Brianna. Juhani refused to learn the dark side. She said she had tasted it and did not wish to again. Carth, the droids, and Zalbaar stood off to the side watching.

"Good, good. You are all getting the hang of it. A few more days of training and you will be able to completely control the dark side powers," Joron said to them.

Revan smiled, "How bout you teach us that ball of energy trick?"

Joron smirked, "Yea right, that's my move and only I know how to use it. There are a few others I have made, but you will have to find those out later."

Jolee sighed, "Young people and their secrets, and you guys wonder why I turned down the council's request to return. I can't stand the secrecy."

"Hey, everyone has secrets, even you," Bastila said.

"You're right!" Jolee exclaimed, "And it's time I share them with you. Have I told you about the time on Kashyyk where..." He continued telling the story as they began to leave smiling to themselves. A couple stayed to hear the story and they ended their first day of training.

**Forgotten planet**

Three figures walked up a long aisle to a throne. Sitting in the throne was a figure with a long robe that flowed from his head down to the floor and moved around him as if it were alive, that person, or rather being, is a True Sith. The figure at the head of the three spoke, "My mission was a success my master. But I have lost a great deal, this includes..." She held up the stump that was left of her hand. "This was done by Sion, the one you sent with me."

Hissing and other noises came from the figure.

"Thank you my lord," she replied.

"Hissing."

"I have learned much from the Exile, and will teach the new and old Sith alike of what I have learned, my lord."

"Hissing."

The figure next to Kreia stepped up. She removed her hood to reveal a twi'lek. She was a dark green with black stripes running down her lekku. She bowed low and said, "I have failed my master. Please forgive me."

"Hissing," and then he raised his arm into the air. The twi'lek was lifted from the ground the Force wrapping around her neck.

She gasped for breath, "Please master...I will not...fail again. There was a Bothan and a man. They infiltrated the base...and Asshk was killed...before the operation took place!" She screamed in pain and then was thrown to the ground. "Thank you master. I will not fail again."

The dark figure raised his hand at the other figure. "Hissing"

The figure answered without removing his hood, "I was successful as well my lord. The bounty has been set; I will be going back soon. It will be as you said, he will come to end the bounty, and I will be there waiting for him. Also, the man you wanted has been brought here. He is being held in the dungeon and tortured as we speak. If you wish, you may go question him yourself. I'm sure you will find that this Jedi has much to say."

"Hissing." The figure arose from his chair his robes swirling around him.

"Very well, my lord. I shall take you to him." The man led the robed figure down to the dungeons and entered one of the rooms. "Here he is my lord. This is Nabdo Sanlo, one of the masters present at both Revan's and the Exile's hearings. He stepped down a couple years ago for unknown reasons."

The robed figure lifted his hand and a bolt of lightning struck Nabdo. He screamed and the twi'lek yelled, "Tell us where Revan is!"

He screamed, "I will never tell you. I was one of the few he trusted on the council. I will never betray that! AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

"Hissing," and the the twi'lek and the other man joined him in torturing the Jedi, however Kreia stood off to the side. Still he would not talk.

They stopped and Kreia looked at her master, "We will continue to torture him, he cannot withstand us forever."

The leader left and walked back to his throne. He made a low hissing noise and five Sith assassins appeared. "Hissing."

The first assassin spoke, "We shall my lord."

"Hissing."

A second assassin stepped forward, "What else do you wish us to do about _him_?"

"Hissing."

The assassin smiled, "It will be our pleasure."

The figure hissed again and all but one assassin disappeared. "You have a mission for me, master?"

"Hissing."

"By our progress, the army will be ready in a month and a half. I may be able to push it to a month, but it will be unlikely."

"Hissing."

Stunned the assassin replied, "It...it will be as you command my lord."

OoOoO

A/N : sorry for the wait, school and soccer have been taking up a lot of time. 

Anyway here's chap 4, r&r please chap 5 should be revised by tuesday


	5. Chapter 5 Bounty! What Bounty!

**Bothawui**

Kruoshk walked out of his hospital room after having his final checkup. He walked up to the nurse behind the desk and asked for the bill, and after answering a few questions, finally left the hospital. _Finally_, Kruosh thought, _I thought I'd never get out of there._

Nicho, Mission, and Dustil walked over to him, Beron lagging behind them. "You sure you're ok?" Mission asked.

"I'm fine, I swear." Kruoshk replied. _As long as I don't have to go back in there._

Beron looked at him, "I don't mean to be rude, but what about that info you promised us?"

"I haven't forgotten. Come on, follow me," Kruoshk said.

They followed Kruoshk down the streets of Drev'starn. Beron walked up behind Nicho and tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around, "What is it?"

Beron looked around nervously, "Look, I didn't tell you cause we had a lot of things going on, but there were two strange figures in the cantina. Both were in an all-dark robe and I couldn't see the faces, but I did see the eyes of one of them. The eyes were so bright it was hard not to see them; they were an emerald color towards the middle but with a bluish tinge around the outside. They seemed to be women, and both were looking around the cantina. Green eyes seemed to be watching the other one though. No-face, however, was watching you. I think she may have been looking for you, but I'm not sure."

"Hey it's ok. Let's just get this information first and worry about that later." Nicho turned back around and didn't see Beron shake his head.

They got to the corner of the street and Kruoshk turned around, "This is as far as you guys go. Wait here, I'll be back with the information momentarily."

"Why can't we come?" Dustil asked.

"It's a secret base. No entry unless you have a pass. Just stay here, all right? I should be back within an hour."

"OK," Nicho said. Behind him, Mission and Dustil audibly showed their disagreement while Beron stood there quietly.

Close to an hour later, they can see Kruoshk walking down the street toward them. Nicho held up his hand but froze. Something was wrong, the air seemed to shimmer around Kruoshk and Nicho felt a ripple flow through the Force. _Frak_ he thought. Nicho lookedat Dustil, _He's sensed it too, good._ Nicho yelled at Kruoshk to get down as he and Dustil simultaneously leapt into the air landing just in time to deflect a vibrosword that had appeared. Holding the vibrosword was a Sith assassin, and Nicho looked around as three more Sith assassins materialized out of the air.

One of the assassins said, "Jedi Nicho...we were hoping we would be he ones to kill you."

He laughed, "You can try." He pulled out and ignited his other lightsaber. Dustil ignited his as well and took a battle stance. Kruoshk, who had fallen to the ground, stood up and pulled out his blasters. "No," Nicho said, "get out of here." Kruoshk nodded and ran to the others. Nicho looked over and nodded, Dustil returned the nod and Nicho turned to face the assassins. They blocked, attacked, and dodged all in one smooth motion, as both of their attack styles complimented each other. One of the assassins faltered and Nicho swung his lightsaber slicing off his arm, and Dustil finished him off by cutting off his head. Now with only three to worry about they quickened their attacks, but something was wrong. Nicho felt as if the Force was slowly being drained away from him, he glanced at Dustil and noticed he had a frown on his face. He realized that these assassins were feeding off of their Force power. He only knew one other time this had happened, when he was on Citadel Station fighting the Sith. These, though, were more powerful than the ones on Citadel Station, as the Force was drained from him at an alarming rate.

Nicho knew he had to pull back. He was getting weaker and he knew that if he stayed any longer both of them would die. He looked over his shoulder at his companions, Kruoshk just reaching them. Mission ignited her lightsaber and Beron reached for his blasters as they started to run to help Nicho and Dustil, but Nicho shouted, "NO!! Don't come any closer!! Run!!! They're too powerful! Get to the ship and prepare for takeoff. We'll be there soon."

They looked at each other as if to say they wouldn't leave them, but they turned and rushed back to the ship. Nicho gave them a full five minutes before he told Dustil to start running, then waited another couple minutes and finally made a break for it too. When he got to the ship, the ramp was down and they were hovering there. Nicho, weak from the fight, could not make the jump necessary to get onto the ramp, so he leapt as high as he could and caught the edge of the ramp with one of his hands. He started to panic as he began to slip, but felt hands grasp his arm as Mission and Dustil pulled him up. Nicho turned and watched the assassins get smaller. One of them shouted, "You can run, but in a galaxy that wants your head there is nowhere to hide."

_What do they mean by that?_ he thought. Nicho walked to the cockpit. When he got there Beron was sitting in the chair breathing heavily, and his eyes closed.

At that moment a blast rocked the ship. "Sith's blood!" Beron yelled, eyes flying open. He turned to the controls and said, "There's an enemy ship coming up the starboard side. They are sending us a message."

A Duros appeared on the screen, "Jedi. We are here to collect your bounty."

"Bounty! What bounty?" Nicho exclaimed.

"It says dead or alive, you choose which."

'You're mad if you think I'll go down without a fight,' growled Nicho 'Beron, hyperspace, now!'

The sparks of a billion stars elongated in the _Interceptor's_ screen as the ship's hyperdrive sent them shooting forward faster than the speed of light.

Dustil looked at Nicho, "You have a bounty on your head?"

"I don't know anything about it. I swear," Nicho said.

Kruoshk said, "I do. It's in with all this other stuff. I found it while I was looking through the archives." He opened the file and flipped through the pages. He stopped and took out one of the pages and handed it to Nicho.

"It says here...hmmmm...the bounty came from an anonymous source." He read a little further, "Son of a...! I'm worth eighteen thousand credits!"

"What?" Beron and Mission exclaimed.

"You've got to be kidding me! Now we have to fight off bounty hunters too," Dustil moaned.

Nicho looked at Dustil, "We can worry about that later, right now we have to worry about getting all the info we can and then we have to find Revan." He turned to Kruoshk, "What else is in the file?"

"It doesn't say anything about the whereabouts of Revan, but this last entry is interesting. It says he visited Dxun before he disappeared. I also, took the liberty of looking up the other guy, Joron Kraus, right?" he replied.

"Yea that's him. What did you get?" Nicho asked.

"Says here that he went to Ossus before he disappeared. As for the True Sith, we have thought them to be extinct as everyone else says. However, there have been reports of strange happenings along the Unknown Regions. They are saying that strange ships have appeared and disappeared along the border of the Unknown Regions. Most people have looked over this but we thought it might be important."

"So," Nicho said, "looks like we're headed to either Ossus or Dxun. Which one guys?"

"Ossus," Dustil said. The others nodded in agreement except Beron, who sat there quietly.

"Ossus it is. Punch in the coordinates and lets get this ship moving."

* * *

**Hyperspace**

Beron sat at the controls, _Damn,_ he thought, _why Ossus? Any other planet would have been fine, but not there._ "Ughhhhhhhh," he said aloud. _I haven't been there in years and I didn't expect I'd be going back in this lifetime._ He sighed and laid his head back. He closed his eyes and quickly fell asleep.

In the garage, Nicho was tinkering with the swoop bike. "Maybe if I connect this here...," he muttered to himself. He jumped up in surprise as oil sprayed all over him. At that very moment Mission walked in and saw what had happened. She started cracking up and between giggles asked, "Need any help?"

"No I'm fine," he growled as he picked up a towel and began wiping off the oil.

She giggled again, "If you say so."

Nicho wiped the oil from his face and sighed. He decided the best thing he could do was work on his lightsabers, at least he was sure how they worked. He sat his lightsabers on the ground and took them apart. He spread them out in front of him and delicately polished and oiled each piece separately.

Kruoshk wandered into the garage and looked around, "What happened here?"

"Don't want to talk about it," he replied keeping his mind on what he was doing.

"Ok." He stood there for a moment and then, "Look, we need to talk about this bounty."

"No we don't," Nicho replied as he went on to put together one lightsaber and polished the case.

"Yes we do, do you really think this bounty is irrelevant?"

"To be honest I'm curious. I don't know who could have put that bounty on me. The worst part is that I don't even know what I did to get a bounty put on my head. I do know one thing, though, I have to go to them and stop it, but what we're doing right now is more important."

Kruoshk smiled, "I do know where this bounty is from if you really want to stop it. That doesn't necessarily mean that the man who put the bounty on you is on that planet, but we might get lucky and still catch him there."

Nicho furrowed his brow as he said, "But what about going to Ossus? We need to get whatever information and help we can before we find Revan."

"That can wait, this is a threat to your crew and you can't let them get hurt. As our leader, you have an obligation to put your crew first."

"Leader?" Nicho asked, "Who said I was your leader?"

"Says everyone. You're a natural _and_ you fit the job."

Nicho sighed, "Well if that's the case, then I guess it is my duty, but..." He looked up, doubt still in his eyes, " What if this is the wrong decision? What if we aren't meant to go there?"

"If Revan were here and his friends were threatened, what do you think he would do?

Nicho looked down at his lightsabers, "He'd protect them, he'd save them."

"Exactly."

Nicho sighed and then smiled, "Well then, lets get this show on the road. What planet are we headin' to?"

Kruoshk gave, possibly, the biggest smile Nicho had seen come from the Bothan, "It's Ord Mantell."

"Go tell Beron to change course, we're heading to Ord Mantell."

* * *

**Ord Mantell**

A robed figure exited a ship and walked out of the docks. He looked around to see if anyone had seen him and continued on. He was in Knossa, one of the main cities of Ord Mantell. People, consisting mostly of mercenaries, bustled around as the morning traffic seemed to thicken around the Sith. He sniffed disapprovingly at the foul odor coming from the man walking next to him. He shook his head as he passed yet another pile of garbage. He looked at all the buildings, most of them standing stories tall. He finally found the blaster shop he was looking for and went in. The human looked up from the counter and asked, "Can I help you."

With a slight twitch of his hand he said, "Take me to him."

"I will take you to him," said the human with a slightly dazed expression. He turned around and the figure followed. He opened a hidden door and said, "He's in here."

"Good," he turned to enter but paused. He turned back to the man and with another twitch of his hand, "You have not seen me and will tell no one I was here. Now leave us."

The robed figure entered the room, and sitting there was a hologram of a man. "Hello Goto. He's coming here to put an end to the bounty."

"You're sure?" Goto asked.

"Our scouts confirm the information," the Sith replied.

"Then your plan is working," he remarked.

"Yes it is. On another matter, where is Revan now?"

"He is on a distant planet. Only Carth Onasi knows the coordinates, don't ask me if I can get into the navigation system, that stupid astromech droid is the only one who can get in. In other words I cannot give you a location, however you may locate it via a tracking device on the ship. I have already sent you the codes for the beacon."

"Good, and they suspect nothing?"

"Even if they did and destroyed me, I have a second waiting to step in and take command of the droid army. I have also taken the precaution, as I said, of installing a tracking beacon on their ship."

"As long as our plans are not ruined."

"I must leave they are coming back to the ship," Goto said.

"I will go wait for the Jedi."

Outside, a second hooded figure slid into the shadows as they finished their conversation.

* * *

Beron landed the _Interceptor_ safely in the docks. They all exited off the ship and entered the city of Knossa. "Where should we look first?" Nicho asked. 

"We should probably start by asking around."

Beron looked around and spotted a familiar sight. The female robed figure from before. He whispered to Nicho, "Look over there. It's the one from the cantina. The one who's eyes I saw."

Nicho nodded but didn't look over at the person. He back-flipped and landed right next to her. She let out a gasp and Nicho barely missed being cut in half with a lightsaber. Instantly he had his lightsabers out, one blocking her blow and the other hovering near her throat. "Holy shavit! Watch what you're doing with that!" Nicho exclaimed.

"Sorry, you startled me," she replied. She reached up took off her hood revealing long brown hair and glowing green eyes.

Nicho couldn't help looking into her eyes, it seemed like a couple of seconds to him, but it must have been longer as she waved her hand in front of his eyes saying, "Helloooooooo? Anyone in there?"

"Oh...umm...sorry," said Nicho.

She laughed, shaking her head, "Whatever. If you are too embarrassed to tell me..."

"I'm not embarrassed! I was just...well it's none of your business anyway," Nicho said flustered.

"What are you doing following us?" asked Beron.

"I was not following you," she replied, "I was following a robed figure. She was in the cantina on Bothawui. She disappeared, but I found this other guy. From the disturbance I felt in the Force, he is a follower of the dark side so I decided to follow him here. I believe he is waiting for someone, from what I gathered from the people around here, he is the same man who put the bounty on a Nicho... something, so I'm suspecting that guy is who he is waiting for."

"He's Nicho," Dustil said pointing at him.

Surprised the girl said urgently, "Then you must leave at once, he is here to kill you. He put the bounty on your head, which means he wants you dead. Why would you come here anyway, are you stupid or something? Wait I now the answer: YES! He probably already knows you are here and wants you to find him."

"Lets not disappoint him then," Nicho said.

"Don't be stupid! He will kill you!" She looked at Nicho and seeing that he was not going to change his mind, she sighed. She thought for a minute then, "I will come with you. If you are going to fight him then you will need help."

Nicho stiffened, "We don't need your help! We are strong enough to beat this guy."

"You don't even know who he is!" she yelled.

People around them started staring but they continued anyway. "Well if you know who he is then tell us!" said Nicho.

"You do not want my help, then I will not help you."

"You are getting on my nerves! Just tell me!"

"NO!"

"Fine! You can help us! Now will you tell us?"

She smiled a content look on her face, "Why yes, yes I will. Follow me I'll take you to an apartment I rented out."

Nicho sighed and couldn't help wondering if she had known he would let her come.

Mission and Dustil walked behind Nicho, hands interlocked. "They make a good couple don't you think?" Mission said, just loud enough for Nicho to hear her.

"Sure would," Dustil replied.

Nicho looked over his shoulder and they smiled, he flushed. "Shut up," he said.

Mission and Dustil laughed.

Kruoshk and Beron watched everything from farther back. "Think she's trustworthy?" Beron asked.

"She seems all right but we won't know until later.

Beron nodded and continued to follow them.

* * *

They arrived at an old broken down hotel. "Nice," Nicho commented. 

"Hey, it's so no one would find me," the woman replied.

"So now that we are here, lets hear it."

"Starting with your name," Kruoshk said.

"Then where you got that lightsaber," Beron added.

Mission shushed them both and looked back at the woman, "Go ahead."

"My name is Karine Tarus. I am from the planet Gala. I was taken when I was young, and trained at the Jedi Academy on Coruscant. I was on a mission when I returned, but I was ambushed while entering the Academy. They were Sith, and they almost killed me, but a couple Jedi who were hiding in the Academy rescued me. We hid for a few days, dodging the search parties as best we could, but they still found us. It turned out one of our companions made a deal with the Sith and gave us up. We fought, and we fought dirty; we did everything we could to get out alive, but I was the only one that made it. I searched for other Jedi as I fled Coruscant, but I found out that a majority of the Jedi had gone to Katarr, and died; those that did not went into hiding. I did the same, until I ran into a former member of the Jedi Council. He told me of his suspicions that the Sith were organizing in the Unknown Regions, and talked me into helping him find them. Unfortunately, we were separated, but I have still been trying to find the Sith and where they are; that is why I have been following these dark siders."

"Ok, so you're a Jedi from Coruscant and you have been following these robed guys around, and you just happened to be in Bothawui and now Ord Mantell at the same time as us? Were they coincidences that we were there too, or are you actually working for them?" Dustil asked, crossing his arms.

"They were coincidences, I swear. I already told you on Bothawui, I was following a cloaked figure. You might have seen her in the cantina. She left the planet and I followed her until she disappeared. I found this other guy on a backwater planet and noticed a dark aura around him. I decided to follow the second guy and he came here."

"So you followed him here, what did you learn?" Nicho asked.

"I learned that you need to get off the planet! That guy is looking for you and you need to leave..." she turned her head, her nose wrinkling. Nicho sensed it too. There was no life in the hotel; everyone was gone.

Beron took out his blasters, "We've got company."

The windows were smashed and door broken down, as bounty hunters came jumping through them. The group took out their weapons and Nicho asked; "Now I think we can talk this out in a nice polite fashion. I mean do you all think you can beat four Jedi, a Bothan, and a man that served in the Mandalorian wars?"

The leader, as it would seem, stepped forward, "We have been ordered to take you to our master. He wishes that you come willingly, he does not wish bloodshed."

"Yet," Kruoshk whispered.

* * *

Standing in front of the group was a robed figure. Nicho looked at him, fire in his eyes, ready to fight. The figure said, "You're too predictable Nicho. You should have known better than coming here. You could easily fight off bounty hunters, but you will find that I am not so easy." 

"We'll just see about that!" Nicho spat.

"Very well," the figure chuckled. He lifted up a hand and snapped. Three dark Jedi appeared. "One for each of your lightsaber wielding friends, and you get me all to yourself."

Nicho ignited both his lightsabers and rushed at the dark figure. The Sith pulled out his own lightsaber, but Nicho noticed something odd about it. _Shavit!_, Nicho thought, _It's a double-blade!_ The man ignited the other side of his lightsaber and met Nicho's attack head on. Nicho swung his lightsaber while blocking with his second. Something felt familiar about who he was fighting and he frowned. "Figure it out yet? I'm the one from Korriban, and if you couldn't beat me then you can't beat me now."

Nicho yelled in anger and lunged at him swinging his lightsabers wildly. He was struck by a bolt of lightning and forced back. He fell to one knee and the figure appeared above him. Nicho held up his lightsabers just in time to block the attack. The figure started slamming his red double-bladed lightsaber down on Nicho's green and blue ones. The impact of each blow was unbearable for Nicho, and then he heard a crack and pain shot through his left arm as it fell to his side, broken. He could no longer hold his right arm up either and he dropped his lightsaber as it went numb.

Nicho looked into the darkness where the face should be and for the first time saw his eyes. They were blue, but tainted. He could see the darkness swirling behind them, and for the first time in a long time, Nicho was afraid. He closed his eyes as the figure brought his lightsaber down.

When nothing happened, he opened his eyes to see blue, green, and cyan colored lightsabers criss-crossing and stopping the red one. Nicho looked back at Mission, Dustil, and Karine standing there, dead Dark Jedi behind them. Mission had gashes across her arms and legs and a large burn across her face, Dustil had a huge scorch mark on his stomach from where a bolt of lightning hit him, and Karine was unmarked except for a slight burn on her arm where a bolt of lightning had nearly hit her.

Nicho looked back at the figure. He said, "Brave but futile. You all are worthless, especially you Nicho." Nicho screamed at him only to be laughed at, "Looks like I pissed you off, and to make it better you won't be able to save your friends as I kill them in front of you. I will do terrible things to them, torture them for hours before finally killing them." He laughed sadistically, "And then, Nicho, I will kill you." He laughed again, louder than before.

Nicho screamed again, but this time it was amplified by the Force and the sonic wave sent the figure flying into the far wall. Feeling new power course through him, he lifted his right arm and a bolt of lightning erupted from his fingertips. It struck the figure dead on and he screamed in pain, but laughing at the same time. Mission watched to horrified to move as Dustil and Beron rushed over to him grabbing his arms. They screamed at him, telling him to calm down, but he shoved them off. Kruoshk and Karine jumped up, but Nicho flicked them aside with a jek of his hand. He tortured the Sith continuously as his friends tried to calm him. Nicho raised his hand in the air and was about to crush him, when he broke free.

"You really think you can hold me unless I allow it? You're stronger, but not strong enough. I will take my leave. I got what I wanted, you have tasted the dark side, and soon you will want it, no, need it to survive." He turned around and started walking away when he looked over his shoulder, "By the way, the name is Xardun, remember it," and he disappeared.

Nicho shook his head as if coming out of a haze, "What happened?" He looked at his friends and they looked scared. He asked again, "What happened?"

Karine answered, her voice sounding small to her ears, "You almost killed him."

"But how? I was..." Nicho said confused.

"You drew upon the dark side of the Force," Mission said looking down at her shoes.

"I...what?...That's...impossible...How could I...?"

"It's ok, you're back now," Kruoshk said.

"Yea, and we'll help you through it. We know you would never fall to the dark side," Dustil said.

Nicho let out a small smile, "Thanks guys, but if that ever happens again...well...make sure it doesn't, ok?"

"Got it," they replied.

* * *

**Interceptor Hold.**

On the ship, Nicho was complaining to Karine. "Ow ow ow ow! Watch what you're doing."

Karine smiled, "Stop being a baby, it does not hurt that bad."

"Well you're not the one with the broken arm."

"It is not broken anymore, I fixed it."

"Then why bandage it?"

"It is to make sure you don't re-break it doing something stupid. You can take it off when we get to Ossus."

"Who said you're coming?"

"And why not?" she asked indignantly.

"Because I said you can't come, that's why," he replied.

"Please????" she asked, giving him a look he couldn't say no to.

He sighed, "I guess you just won't give up until I say yes, huh?"

"Yep."

"Well then I guess I have no choice; you can come along." Nicho shook his head smiling.

Karine laughed, "Good, or else I would have had to force my way aboard."

"I would have liked to see you try," and he joined her in her laughter.

Nicho smiled and she smiled back. _She is cute when she smiles_, Nicho thought. Unknown to him was that she was thinking the exact same thing about him. "Well I guess we should head to the cockpit now," Nicho said. Karine blushed as she realized she had been staring at him and stood up. Nicho joined her and they walked to the cockpit to tell Beron to head to Ossus; both had a slight red tint in their cheeks as they walked out of the hold. While Mission was sitting there practicing Pazaak and Dustil was watching the latest news on the holo-net, they walked by and Mission and Dustil both looked up from what they were doing and noticed the blushes on their cheeks.

"Looks like we may have another couple on our hands. I would hate to butt into their love lives," Mission smiled devilishly, "but we may need to help them out a bit."

Dustil looked back at the screen, "Now come on, no need for that. Let them work it out themselves."

"But where's the fun in that?" she asked.

Dustil smiled as he watched the Senate about to begin a meeting, _Some things never change._

OoOoO

A/N: Got this one done earlier than I expected. Guys you need to REVIEW please! what does a guy need to get a review around here? please I'm begging you guys!  
anyway, chap. 6 is the last chapter I've written so far, that will be revised in a couple of days, and then the rest of the chapters will be brand new! woohoo!


	6. Chapter 6 The Fruits of Training

**Ossus, Docks**

The Interceptor slowly pulled into the docks on Ossus. When they landed Nicho gathered the crew and told them, "This planet isn't known for hostility, so I only need for one of you guys to come with me. So Beron, if you would join me, we'll be off." Nicho heard a groan in his head, _What the hell?_ he thought. _I didn't groan, so who was that? Oh well._

Nicho shrugged and looked around at the crew, "We'll be back later, come on Beron."

Beron sighed; _Of course he picks me, why not? Beron_ continued to mutter to himself all the way down the ramp.

Nicho looked around at the small buildings, few people walked the streets. After the cataclysmic event that had taken place all those years ago, not many people had come back to settle Ossus, and most of the people that had come back were scavengers that were trying to find something to sell. There are even rumors that there were people underground, and are said to be the original inhabitants of the planet that had escaped the disaster. "So where are we going first?" Beron asked Nicho.

"To the old Jedi Library, we need to find out why Revan would come here, and the most likely reason is that he was looking for something in the library," he replied. Nicho looked at Beron who seemed to be in deep thought, "What is it Beron?"

"None of your business," Beron replied. Nicho felt a feeling of anger pass through him, but it didn't feel like his own.

"What the hell?" he said.

"What the hell, what?" Beron asked.

"Huh? Oh sorry I was just talking to myself."

"Weird."

"Just come on, we should get going," he replied a hint of anger in his voice.

"Hey don't get angry, it's just kinda weird to talk to yourself."

Nicho stopped himself from saying something stupid and instead said, "Ok whatever, lets just get this done."

"Ok, ok, fine. We'll head over to the library right now." When they made it to the entrance of the library, they could see that no one had visited it for years.

Two of the four towers lay in ruin and the roof of the main building was gone. Sides of walls were scorched with blaster fire and stones lay strewn across the front courtyard. Nicho could see that there were four levels to the building. He looked at Beron and saw look of sadness pass over his face. They slowly entered the building and Nicho saw half destroyed bookcases and datapads littered the floor. Dust covered everything and looked like it hadn't been disturbed for years. He could see a few places where the scavengers looked, but it seemed that they couldn't find anything of value. He saw a few skeletons lying in the corner, and judging from the size Nicho guessed they were only six or seven. Nicho sighed, and looked at Beron and said, "Let's split up, we can cover more ground that way. Take the third and fourth floor. I'll take the first and second."

"Ok," he replied.

A metallic figure stood in the shadows, unmoving and quiet. He raised his blaster rifle, ready to stalk his prey. He decided he would go after the younger, stronger male seeing as he would be a more worthy opponent. If he could he would have smiled and, as always, he felt an artificial feeling of glee he only got when he was about to kill.

Beron searched through everything on the second floor, but found nothing that was important. He sat down and leaned against the wall. He closed his eyes and soon he was dreaming of the very library he was in, except it looked like new. It was bright and gleamed in the morning light of the two suns.

Inside the library, Beron, who was six or seven at the time, sat and read; young and old Jedi alike bustled around him. They watched holograms and read datapads as they searched for knowledge. Beron was sitting at one of the tables when his thoughts drifted to his father. His father was a Jedi, a Jedi that had broken the Code and married and had had children. Beron was taken before his parents could, as the Council put it, corrupt him. He knew, however, who his father was, knew he was a Jedi, and knew he was punished for falling in love. His father could not keep his emotions in check, and it seemed to pass onto his son. Beron could never control his emotions, even with the most skilled masters teaching him. None of the exercises they taught him worked and the masters could feel his frustration growing. It grew until one day he was pushed to far by an older student, and Beron hurt him, in fact he almost killed him. As young and unskilled with the Force as he was, using his anger and frustration he momentarily gave into the darkness within him and it gave him the power he needed. When the impact of what he had done finally hit him, he ran. He ran far and fled the Jedi Order.

He stowed away on a ship and left. As he sat on the ship, crammed in between two boxes, he cried. He failed his father, and didn't become a Jedi, and could not return honor to his name. He was found, by one of the crewmen and was asked where he lived. Beron answered him saying he had no home, so the man took him in. Within days of his leaving, the academy and library on Ossus were destroyed by Ulic Qel-Droma and Exar-Kun when they detonated a nearby star.

After a year or so living with his step-family, Beron began to forget the teachings of the Jedi and could no longer remember how to wield the Force as he did before. He could do minor things with the Force, he was not separated from it, but he could not wield it as a normal Jedi would. And even now, Beron knows that the Force is waiting inside of him, ready to be used; all he needs to do is learn how. Beron opened his eyes and decided he would have to tell Nicho, but back at the ship. Maybe, just maybe, Nicho could help him feel the Force again. He got up, hearing pops from his joints. _Damn, I'm getting old._

Nicho walked around the first floor looking through everything. All he found was cracked datapads and broken holovids littering the floor. He sighed.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw a glint of metal. He turned and walked toward it and found that it was a deactivated droid. It lay crumpled in a pile. Nicho looked over it and found the activation switch. He reached for it, but froze as he felt the cold steel barrel of a blaster rifle against his neck. Nicho almost panicked but forced himself to calm himself down. He took a breath and with incredible speed, turned and snatched the blaster from the attacker's hands.

When he looked at who had threatened him, it turned out to be an HK-50 protocol droid. "Why did you attack me?" He heard static and sparks flew from the droids head.

The droid pointed at the heap of metal on the ground and made a signal that seemed to say to turn on the droid. Nicho flipped the switch and the droid lifted its head. The robot stood eight feet tall and was built from a strange type of metal that Nicho had never seen before. Nicho piqued his memory trying to remember all the types of droid he could, but could not think of one to match the one in front of him.

The humanoid droid looked at Nicho and said, "I am a Xim War Robot built to protect and serve Xim the Despot. However my companion here has informed me that he was overthrown and I am most likely the last of my model." Nicho remembered hearing about these robots before. He knew that these robots had limited intelligence and relied heavily on commands from their master, but they were built with an array of destructive weapons that were put into their humanoid designs. Since they weren't known for their intelligence, Nicho wondered how this droid knew so much. As if the robot read his mind he said, "You are probably wondering where I have gained such knowledge. I will tell you that the HK droid behind you has uploaded all data into me thus making me more intelligent than my predecessors, though; he refuses to share his assassination protocols with me. If you have any questions feel free to ask," the droid said politely.

"How did you get here? And why are you so polite?" Nicho asked.

"I am polite because I was programmed to obey my master, and seeing as my previous one was killed, and there have been no humans in this library in many years, you are my new master."

"Surely those scavengers have come through here, why haven't one of them become your master?"

"Because it seems that whenever they come here, my HK-50 companion deactivates me, and when I am turned on again, the scavengers are dead. After the first few groups disappeared, no one else visits the library. Now, how I got here, I'm sorry, but I do not know the answer to that question. I just woke up and found myself in this library with the HK droid. Anything before that, I do not remember."

"Ok, well how about why he can't talk," Nicho said pointing at the HK droid.

"His vocabulator is broken. I have been trying to get a new one for him for some time, but I have been unsuccessful," the robot replied.

"I could help you with that, but you guys would have to leave the planet with us. We could also use your guys help against a threat against the Republic."

"A threat? I have not been in a war for years; it would be nice to kill again. I am made for war and he is made for killing, I think we would be perfect for the job. I will talk with him, I'm sure we'll be able to accompany you."

"How can you talk to him?" Nicho asked. The war bot walked over to the HK droid and said to Nicho, "I have learned ways of understanding him, but I would appreciate it if you would leave us alone to talk."

"Alright, I'll just continue looking around these broken datapads and holovids then." _Maybe I'll find something useful,_ he thought

Beron had just felt a flash of danger and panic, but it had disappeared. _What was that?_ Beron thought. _I'm not in any danger, so where did that come from?_ Deciding that he should check on Nicho, just to be safe, he descended the stairs to the first level.

As he turned the corner he saw an eight foot robot and a HK-50 assassin droid standing on both sides of Nicho. _Sith's blood!,_ he thought, _what the frak is that?_ He jumped back around the corner and pulled out his blasters. _Ok, calm down. I'll save Nicho on three. One...two...THREE!_

Beron jumped out and started blasting the giant robot, but they bounced off and flew in every direction. Nicho was startled at the sudden blaster fire and then yelled at Beron to stop, but it was a little late. The HK droid had shot Beron in the arm and leg, causing him to fall to the ground in agony. Nicho rushed over and started to heal his wounds. "You ok?" Nicho asked.

"Yea. What's going on?" Beron questioned.

"These two droids are coming with us, they're here to help."

"Wish I was told that before I got shot," he said with a wince of pain as he stood up.

"Sorry, I guess I probably should have come and told you."

"Yea, you should have, but," Beron sighed, "what can you do?"

Nicho let out a small chuckle and then, "Anyway, there's nothing here; we're heading back to the ship."

"Wait," Xim II said, "You have not seen the tree."

"You mean Ood Bnar? I had heard he had survived by becoming a tree, but I thought the tree was destroyed," Nicho said.

"No my friend, I have tried; there is nothing that can bring down this tree. Come, it is this way." The Xim robot led the two men to a long hallway and at the end; they saw the tree that is Ood Bnar. It had white leaves and shone with sunlight that emanated from the inside.

"Wow," was all Beron could say.

"So why are you showing us this tree?" Nicho asked.

"Watch and see," the robot replied. Nicho watched the tree, and watched, and watched, and still nothing happened. He was about to say something when there was a ripple in the Force. Before them the air began to shimmer and move. Nicho watched as before his very eyes the figure of a strange alien began to appear. At first Nicho could not tell what it was, but saw features appear. He looked more tree than anything, as tendrils, that looked like branches, sprouted from his head. Nicho saw slits cut themselves into the bark like skin where the eyes and mouth would be. Finally, the Neti stood before them.

"Ah, Xim, you have returned, and with Jedi! What is it you would like to know?" Ood asked them. Nicho and Beron stared open-mouthed at the alien. Master Bnar laughed, "I guess I should explain how I'm standing here if I'm really a tree."

Nicho nodded, "That...would be a good start."

"It's simple, I'm a Force projection. Just because I'm a tree doesn't mean I can't use the Force."

"Right, cause we see this kind of thing everyday," Beron said sarcastically.

Ood looked at Beron questioningly, "Do I know you? You look awfully familiar. Hmmmmmmm...Yes..a little older...take away the small beard..." Bnar thought out loud.

Nicho looked over at Beron with a confused look on his face and saw that Beron was getting nervous. Beron was about to panic as thoughts shot through his head, _Shavit! I hope he doesn't recognize me. Oh frak._

Before Beron could think about what to do, Bnar interrupted, "Of course! Your Beron Qualus aren't you? Yes I knew your father. We were friends until he married that woman and left, and then you went and left the Order too. Sorry to say, though, you were lucky. As I'm sure you know, days after you left, Ossus was almost destroyed."

Nicho looked shocked and turned to Beron. "You? You're a Jedi?"

"Was a Jedi, not anymore."

"No one ever stops being a Jedi my young friend. It is in your blood, and you can still learn to wield it."

"Yea, I'll teach you," Nicho said.

"Ha! You don't know much yourself! I will teach you, both of you and you will both learn the true secrets to the Force. I have been here for many years, thinking, and training myself with the Force. I can teach you everything I know."

Nicho had a thought come to his mind, "Will you be willing to teach more than just the two of us?"

"How many then?" Bnar asked.

"Five, including us."

Ood laughed, "The more the merrier!"

**Interceptor, Main Hold**

Karine watched as Beron and Nicho walked down the ramp. She sighed, _Well this is boring, what am I supposed to do now? _She walked over to where Mission was sitting, "Hey Mission, what are you doing?"

"Nothing, just gonna practice some Pazaak while we're waiting for them," she replied.

"Oh." _That was fun. Now what?_ She went over to Dustil, "So you want to practice our forms or something?"

"Not right now, maybe later." She sighed, _Is everyone here boring?_ As she turned around, she saw a worried look cross Dustil's face, but it quickly disappeared. _Hmmmm, wonder what that was about._ Karine eventually decided that the best thing to do was meditate. She went to the hold and sat down.

Her breathing slowed, her mind cleared and she let the Force flow through her. Karine was never good at meditating and soon her mind drifted. First she saw Nicho's face, smiling at her, but her thoughts drifted to a darker time. It drifted to that horrible day she returned to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. Unknown to the inhabitants of the planet, but Sith had infiltrated the Senate and turned a blind eye when reports came in about attacks on the Jedi Temple. Karine remembered being so angry with them for not believing the reports, for letting Jedi die.

Karine had walked up the steps to the Temple, she had been so happy to be back. All the talk of the Sith returning, she thought she would be safe here, and she would finally see her friends again. She was wrong, oh so very wrong. As she approached the doors, she noticed the door guards weren't there. That is strange, she had thought, the guards never leave their posts. As she got closer she saw them, lying on the ground, dead.

Karine gasped and rushed over. Fearing the worst, she entered the Temple and saw bodies everywhere. Lightsaber wounds on all of them. _The Sith,_ she had thought. She walked carefully around the bodies, checking them all. She could make a few of them out, but some were disfigured beyond recognition. Karine cried for the dead and she was overcome with grief. She fell to her knees, and in front of her she saw her best friend, a stab wound to the heart.

Karine didn't even move when the Sith appeared before her and raised his lightsaber. Karine sat there knowing what was to come; accepting it, but it seemed that the Force had other plans. A Jedi jumped down from a balcony and sliced the Sith in half. She grabbed Karine's arms and dragged her away to a hiding place. The girl urged Karine to calm down or she would give their position away and slowly, she did.

They joined five other Jedi and started what was to be a game of hide-and-seek. The doors were always guarded, so there was no way to escape. They moved every hour, fearing that if they stayed in one place too long they would be captured or killed. On one occasion, one of their members fell behind, and it was feared he didn't make it. He showed up a few minutes later looking very pale, but had said everything was fine. Unfortunately, it wasn't. On a night where they were going to storm the entrance and try to escape, they were ambushed.

Karine fought and did everything she could to stay alive, but her friends were falling, except for the one who fell behind. He was standing there watching his fellow Jedi being killed and did nothing, and Karine realized they were betrayed. The three remaining Jedi backed away from the attackers knowing they were going to die, but planning on taking as many as they could with them. Before Karine registered what happened, the oldest and most experienced of the group thrust his hand out and the front door to the Temple was blown open. She was then lifted into the air and thrown out of the Temple, the doors closing behind her. As she fell to the ground she heard the Jedi yell at her, telling her to run and get away from there as fast as she could. She got up and rushed to the doors banging against them, but the Force kept her from opening it.

She screamed for him to open the door and let her fight, but no matter what she did, it did not open. Giving up, she ran and as she ran, tears streamed down her eyes as she felt her friends become one with the Force.

Karine gave a jump as Mission tapped her on the shoulder. "Are you ok? You're crying."

Karine wiped the tears out of her eyes, "Yea...yea I'm fine."

"Hey we got to go," she said.

"Go where?" Karine asked.

"To the library, Nicho called us there to meet him."

"All right, give me a minute." Karine washed her face, clearing away her tears, and then joined Kruoshk, Dustil, and Mission at the bottom of the ramp.

**Jedi Library**

Nicho paced the room, Beron leaning against the wall, watching him. "When were you going to tell us?" Nicho asked.

"I was going to, but after we left Ossus. I did not plan on you guys finding out another way," Beron answered.

"You could have helped us so many times if you had just told us you were a Jedi!"

"I'm not a Jedi! I already told you that," Beron insisted.

"You heard what Bnar said, no one stops being a Jedi. When everyone else gets here, you're going to train with us," Nicho said sternly.

"No, I'm not. You can't make me do anything. I left the Jedi and I will not go back."

Nicho threw his hands up in frustration. He rubbed his temples and then said, "Look, I know I can't make you do anything, but this would be best. You could protect your friends better, keep them from dieing. If you won't listen to me go talk to Bnar."

Beron sighed, "All right, I'll go talk to him but I won't promise anything." Beron grumbled as he walked down the hallway to the giant tree.

Bnar was waiting for him, "I could hear your argument from here. It seems that you do not want to face the truth."

"The only truth here is that I left the Order and can't go back," Beron replied.

"On the contrary, you can go back. I was a council member, and as a member of the council I can pass judgment on you. I say you can come back."

"And if I don't want to?"

"But you do, I can see it. You yearn to restore honor to your father's name, I see it, deep within you."

"No! I don't want to be a Jedi. I can't be a Jedi..."

"And why would that be?"

"Because...because a Jedi needs to control their emotions and I can't. I almost killed a student because I got angry, and I don't want that to happen to my friends."

"You do need to control your anger, but over the years I have learned that you do not always have to hide your emotions. That one Jedi, I don't remember the name, has taught me that when he visited. Anger, my friend, is the most dangerous and if you learn to control it, you need not worry about falling to the Dark Side."

"I will think about it, maybe I will train, but I just don't know."

"It is all right, go and think it over and I will see you later."

Nicho continued to pace as Beron disappeared from sight. He was wondering what was taking the others so long. As if on cue, the doors were opened and the rest of the crew walked in. Mission and Dustil led the way, as Kruoshk and Karine followed behind. Nicho walked over to them and noticed they were eyeing the two droids. "Don't worry about them, they're coming with us."

"Ok...but you asked us to come here because...?" Dustil asked.

"I've found someone who can help us."

"Help us how?" Dustil asked.

"By training us and teaching us the secrets of the Force."

"Who?" Mission questioned.

"Master Ood Bnar, the Jedi that turned himself into a tree. He's some kind of Force projection or something, but he has agreed to train the five of us."

Confused, Mission asked, "Five? There are only four of us who know how to use the Force."

"Well..., I'll let him tell you when he gets back."

"Wait, you don't mean Beron do you?" Karine asked.

"He does," Beron answered as he walked into the room. The group looked at him, waiting for an explanation. Beron let out a breath, "My father was a Jedi, and I was put into the Jedi Order but later ran away from it. Master Bnar has agreed to help me regain my connection, _if_ I chose too." Beron paused before saying, "I...have decided to train with the four of you."

Nicho smiled and patted Beron on the back. "That's great! We start right away."

The shimmering image of Ood Bnar floated across the room. The room had been cleared, and now there was a large area for the five crew members to train. The five of them stood below staring up at him. Bnar was muttering to himself. Beron was able to make out a few words including, "Where to begin?" He floated down to them, "You all are at different phases in your training and I can't train you all at the same time."  
"Why not just make more projections of yourself?" Mission asked.

"It takes all of my concentration to keep this one projection," he replied.

"So what are you going to do?" Karine asked.

"I've decided that I'm going to split you all into groups. The first group will be Beron and Mission, then Dustil, and last Karine and Nicho."

"Do we start now?" Dustil asked.

"No, we start tomorrow morning. I suggest you get some sleep, we start early."

Beron rubbed his eyes as he walked into the large training room. He had just woken up and was very tired. Leaning against the wall to his left was Mission, asleep. Beron walked up and tapped her on her shoulder. She slowly opened her eyes. "He here yet?" she asked groggily.  
"No. He wakes us up and then shows up late, the old bastard," he answered.

"Ok, well I'm…just gonna...rest...my..." Mission drifted off and fell back asleep.

At that exact moment Ood Bnar materialized next to Mission and woke her up. "It's time to start; I will begin with the basics." He motioned them to follow him over to the middle of the room. "Sit," he told them, "I am going to fully open your minds to the Force and awaken the power deep within you. Close your eyes, clear your mind, and feel the Force flow through you."

Reluctantly, Beron closed his eyes and listened to Bnar's directions. He sat there for minutes waiting for something to happen, but he did not feel any different than when he began. Bnar looked at him, "Calm yourself, and clear your mind of all distractions. Take a deep breath and try again."

Beron sighed and closed his eyes. He concentrated on clearing his mind and calming it. He felt himself relax and he no longer felt tense. Beron felt at peace, and that was when he felt the power of the Force crash upon him. He let out a gasp as he felt the Force swirl within him.

Beron opened his eyes and saw Bnar smiling at him, "Good, very good. You caught on faster than I expected you to, and now that you are fully connected to the Force I will start your training in fully controlling that power.  
The next few hours were spent learning to lift objects with the Force and move them around the room. Eventually Beron and Mission grew weary and Bnar decided to call it a day. He asked them to send Dustil in for his training.

Dustil walked into the large room and looked around. Figures I'm the one who has to train alone with this guy, he thought. Bnar slowly appeared before him, and looked at Dustil.

"You are very adept in the Force young man, but I see the dark side still lies within you. I cannot train you."

"What! What do you mean you can't train me?!" Dustil exclaimed surprised.

"You will fall into darkness again; you have hatred and revenge dormant inside you."

"NO! I will not go back to darkness; I will not betray my friends!"

"Good, that was the answer I was hoping for," Bnar said looking at Dustil. "You will face many temptations on your journey, and you must not give in to them. I expect you to keep your word when you said you would not betray your friends."

"Of course, I could not imagine doing anything to hurt them," he replied.

"Then let's begin, shall we?"

Nicho and Karine walked into the room, Dustil slowly trudging out looking exhausted. Bnar was sitting in the middle of the room. Nicho walked up to Bnar and asked, "So, uh, what are we going to learn first?"

"Sit, I have things to discuss with you," he replied. "Close your eyes and meditate with me for a moment."

Nicho and Karine sat down and cleared their minds. "Good, good, the Force flows through both of you with such intensity that I have not seen since Revan was a student, and what's this? You are connected? Nicho, have you been hearing strange things these past few days?"

"Well, yea, I guess. Sometimes there are feelings that seem to come from somewhere else," he replied.

"Yes, what you are experiencing is a Force bond. You and your friends are starting to grow connected and soon will be able to communicate through it."

Karine opened her eyes and looked at the Jedi master, "Have I been connected like this?"

Bnar paused for a moment, "No, but the seeds have been planted and will soon sprout." Karine smiled at Nicho and he looked over and smiled back. Ood Bnar soon called for their attention again, "You two, by far, are the most powerful and advanced in the group, so I will be pushing you both to your limits. If you don't think you can handle it then leave now."

Nicho snorted, "Yea right, we're not going anywhere."

"Good, now I want you two to spar, and do not hold back, you to are to spar until I tell you otherwise."

"Why?" Karine asked.

"When you two finish I will tell you."

Nicho and Karine both sighed and turned to face each other. They seemed to spar for hours on end, neither gaining the upper hand and by nightfall both fighters were exhausted and sat on the floor panting. The Neti Jedi floated down to them and congratulated both of them for a battle well fought.

"So why…exactly…did you…want us…to spar?" Karine asked through gasps for air.

"I didn't have a reason it was mostly for my amusement. I found it very exciting and exhilarating."

"WHAT?!" Nicho exclaimed. "We did that for nothing?!?"

"If it helps, I found out how good both you are at dueling," Bnar replied coolly.

Nicho grabbed Karine's arm and stormed out of the room, Karine being dragged behind him.

"Don't forget we continue training tomorrow," Bnar said while chuckling softly. As Bnar turned to leave, he thought he heard Nicho yell back at him. He couldn't help but laugh out loud because what he heard sounded a lot like, "SCREW YOU!"

Nicho flipped backwards as two lightsabers slashed at the place he had been standing moments before. He jumped back again just to make sure he was out of range and looked over at who attacked him. Karine and Mission stood there, lightsabers raised, looking at Nicho for a second before turning on each other.

The past week had been a blur as they spent most of their time training with the old Jedi master. They had learned many things from him and grew in strength and power. Eventually, Bnar figured he would pit the crew against each other. He had made it simple, a five way free for all battle, last person standing wins.

Nicho stood at the sidelines thinking of who to attack first, he wanted to win and he would do anything to make sure he did. Nicho decided he would take care of Dustil and Beron first. He looked over at the two who were, at the moment, fighting each other and waited.

Dustil slashed at Beron's chest, his blue lightsaber missing him by centimeters. Beron counterattacked and tried to land a blow on Dustil's shoulder, but he sidestepped and Beron stumbled forward. Dustil chopped him in the back of the neck and Beron fell to the ground unconscious. As Dustil stood over Beron, Nicho saw this as an opening and leaped over to Dustil. "Next time, don't let your guard down," Nicho said as Dustil looked up at him in surprise. Nicho punched Dustil and he fell over.

Nicho smiled and turned around, _Now time for the girls._ What Nicho expected was for the two girls to still be fighting, but what he didn't expect was Mission to be laying on the ground and Karine standing there looking at him. Nicho noticed she did not have her lightsaber activated and wondered what was going on, and then he saw it. A ripple in the air, large enough to knock out a bantha, and it was too late for Nicho to react. He was picked up and slammed into the far wall and slid to the ground. The last words he heard as he fell unconscious were, "Next time, don't let _your_ guard down."

"Shavit," was all he could mutter as he hunched over and fell limp.

Nicho opened his eyes and slowly sat up. His head was throbbing as he looked around the room. Dustil and Mission were both asleep over in one corner, Mission's head resting on his chest. Beron was not there, and Karine sat next to him. "Glad to see you are finally awake," she said, "You ok?"

"My head hurts, but yea I'm fine," he replied.

"Sorry about that, I didn't mean to hurt you too bad. I'll try to go easier on you next time," she said smiling.

Nicho laughed, "Yea I'm very fragile." Karine laughed with Nicho, and they locked eyes for a moment. Karine looked down, a slight blush on her cheeks. Nicho was about to say something when Kruoshk burst into the room, followed closely by Beron.

"[We've got to go, now!" Kruoshk half yelled.

"Why, what's wrong?" Nicho asked.

"The Interceptor picked up a few ships entering the system and I went over the readings. There are about five of the ships and they're heading this way." Beron answered.

"Why does it matter, can't they be passing through or heading to another planet? Who would come out here anyway?" Nicho asked.

"[That's what we thought, but we scanned the ships' ID numbers and they are known bounty hunter vessels."

"But the bounty has been called off, I know it has," Nicho said.

"We know, but these guys are private bounty hunters, they are a group known as the Genoharadan, and I am willing to bet that Sith, Xaldun, paid them to come after us."

"You're probably right," Nicho said. He looked over at Karine who was sitting there with a serious look on her face, "Wake the others, we're leaving." Karine nodded and Nicho turned back to Beron and Kruoshk, "Get the droids and say your goodbye's to Master Bnar. I want us out of here by nightfall."

OoOoO

A/N: last already written chap, chap 7 might not be up for a while. i need reviews guys please, they spur me to write on! come on its not that hard, just click the review button!


	7. Chapter 7 Disastrous Plans

Revised. I know, "already?" right? I didn't like it, so I changed it. Hope you guys like it better than before.

* * *

**Chapter 7 Disastrous Plans**

The True Sith, his cloak swirling around him, hurried along the dark corridors of the once mighty Sith palace. Dust clung to the floors, cracks in the walls had started to grow mold, and frankly it disgusted him. He could not believe that the Sith Empire had fallen so low.

Finally, he reached the council chambers and entered. There, around him, sat seven other True Sith. They had long ago abandoned their old True Sith names, they reminded them too much of the Sith that had fallen to the Jedi the first time. Now they carried common Sith names.

The ones sitting in the room were the most powerful Sith of their species, and so had taken over and controlled the others, as they had done so generation after generation. The Sith, though barbaric at times and tending to prefer tyranny over democracy, were civil in the ways they ran their race. They made sure that no one Sith had too much power, and that if one of them were to gain a larger influence than allowed, they were to be executed by the other members of the council and replaced with the next Sith in line. They were the True Sith, not the fakes that had taken up their name so many times before.

The fakes constantly bickered over who was better, turning on each other and eventually killing one another. No longer, the True Sith council had agreed, no longer would they allow the fakes to ruin the name of the Sith. Only after the death of their ex-apprentice Darth Nihilus had they made that decision and called every Sith in the galaxy to make their way to the Unknown Regions. Now the Sith had an army ready to conquer the battle weary Republic and prove the Sith are still the most powerful beings in the galaxy. Unfortunately, there was a small problem with their invasion, and it begins with the incompetence of their subordinates...

The first Sith lord, known to the others as Darth Tyranel, took his place in the middle of the council. "Send him in," he hissed.

A frail looking man entered the chamber. He looked frightened and ready to pass out, "Pathetic. You call yourself a Sith? Don't look so frightened, a Sith never shows weakness."

"Y-y-yes, m-m-master," he replied.

"What is so important that you have called a meeting of the True Sith?"

"T-there's been a s-setback, my l-l-lord. The p-preparations for the w-war w-will take l-longer than e-expected."

"I...see. That is most unfortunate." He paused for a moment, meeting the eyes of one of the Sith on his left, the one called Darth Enragiever, then turning back to the man said, "I'm afraid that we Sith set a deadline and we intend to keep it. We have already delayed twice before, and you are beginning to try our patience. You will have to be...replaced."

The man turned pale, "P-p-please master, give me another...ughhhh..." He was cut off as he was lifted into the air and his throat crushed.

Enragiever summoned one of their assassins, "Dispose of the body and bring us the second in command."

The assassin took the body and vanished, and returned a moment later with a strong looking Iridonian at his side. He had five horns growing out of his head, longer than normal for an Iridonian. Across his face he had already started to tattoo it to show his dark side allegiance and his eyes were black as space, lacking any emotions what-so-ever. He looked at the council around him and finally rested his eyes on the Sith that summoned him, "You summoned me my lord?"

"Ah, Kazakk, I see you have finally passed the final test."

"Yes, I now have my lightsaber, my lord," the Zabrak replied, twirling the handle in his hands.

"Good, now that you have become a full Sith, you are worthy to become the general of our army."

"I am honored to be your weapon against the Republic," Kazakk replied, bowing.

"Your first duty as general is to fix the blunders of your predecessor, once you have finished report back to receive your next assignment." The Zabrak turned to leave but stopped as a Sith from one end of the row spoke up, this one referred to as Darth Angarous, "Do not make the same mistakes as the last general, unless of course, you wish to join him. We do not accept mistakes, and I will personally make an example out of you if you fail us, understand that. You may go now."

Kazakk bowed, "I understand master."

Once he had left the room, Tyranel turned to his fellow council members, "We are behind schedule, we should have invaded weeks ago."

"It does not matter when we invade, the Republic will fall regardless, and with my apprentice as general, our conquest will come even faster," the Sith to his right replied, named Darth Vadaric.

The last Sith in the row, Darth Necromous, spoke up, "What good will come from conquering the galaxy if we are sabotaged from the inside?"

"I assume you speak of Kreia?" the one called Darth Scourge asked.

"That is not Kreia, it is an imposter. This imposter must think us imbeciles to not know that the _real_ Kreia died at Malachor; he must be dealt with," Darth Kalmintal stated.

"It is all right, let him plot for now, we will kill him soon," Vadaric said.

"I think you all forget the real threat to us, what of Revan? He is on one of our worlds, and if he finds out where he is, he could very well destroy our base," Enragiever pointed out.

"You are correct," Tyranel agreed, "Send in the 21st battallion and capture him."

"He will not go so easily," Angarous stated, "I say we also alert Goto and see if he can do anything."

One by one the coucil nodded their heads in agreement. "Now that we agree, Scourge, that is your planet, take care of it." Underneath his hood, Tyranel smiled, _It won't be long now..._

* * *

The fake Kreia was sitting in her room, a datapad in her hand. She was currently writing down all that she had seen around her. She worked for a Jedi, hired to find the Sith home world and report back to her. She was a changeling, and had based her appearance off of a hologram of the real Kreia. She had accepted this mission a standard month ago, and all was going as planned.

Born and raised as a spy, she had no real name. After a mission, she would temporarily adopt the name of her alias until her next assignment where she would drop that name and take up the new one. She sighed as she remembered her last mission, an easy one.

She had been sent to the planet Naboo. There was a rogue commander from the Naboo armada who had performed a coup d'etat and taken the Queen and her advisors hostage. She was sent to infiltrate the palace and kill the man before he executed the Queen. Unfortunately, it took almost a standard week to gain entrance to the palace and by that time he had already murdered half of the Queen's cabinet. Once inside, she easily found him and killed him, bringing an end to his coup.

Then a month ago, she was contacted by a Jedi wanting to know if she would accept an extremely dangerous mission. Foolishly, she accepted without hearing the mission's specifics. Now she was stuck in possibly the most dangerous place in the galaxy.

She started as someone knocked on the door. She hid the datapad in her cloak just as the door slid open. Once opened, the changeling saw that a twi'lek stood there. "What do you want?" fake Kreia asked.

"I have come to see how you are doing now that you are back with the Sith. Does your hand bother you?" she asked.

Kreia winced at the thought. When she accepted this mission, she was forced to cut her own hand off in order to properly disguise herself as the real Kreia. "It...bothers me and is inconvenient, but I am strong enough to live with it."

"Good." The twi'lek turned to go but stopped, "There will be a meeting in the council chamber this evening, and the master has said that you must be there."

"All right, now leave me be," Kreia said. The twi'lek disappeared around the hall and Kreia closed the door. She returned to her bed and pulled out her datapad, and wrote down that she had to be in the council chamber for a meeting. She then stood and prepared for the most dangerous part of her mission, to get the coordinates of the planet she was on, which meant that she had to sneak into the hangars and hack into the navigation computers. She quietly sighed, not sure she was going to be able to succeed.

* * *

Revan awoke from a deep sleep and looked over at Bastila. Her eyes were closed, her chest rising up and down, and she was smiling. She was obviously having a good dream.

Revan quietly got out of bed and headed to the cockpit of the_ Ebon Hawk._ When he got there, he pulled up the navigation charts and looked at the blank map before him. It was a map of the Unknown Regions, so basically, there was no map; it was being filled in as they went along. Revan sighed, there could be hundreds, even thousands of planets out there and any one of them could be where the Sith were hiding.

Revan was startled when someone put their hand on his shoulder. It was Jolee. "What are you doing up? Youngsters need their sleep too you know, especially with all the training we've been going through. What are you thinking about anyway?"

"I was just wondering if this is even possible. There could be thousands of places the Sith are and we have to go search every one to find them. The Republic could be gone by then," Revan said, placing his face in his hands. "What if this is pointless?"

Jolee smiled, "That's what comes with the job of saving the galaxy...doubt. Everyone who has fought tyranny or evil has doubted if they can do it, but you know what they did?"

"What?"

"I don't know; I was hoping you wouldn't ask that." Revan smiled sadly and Jolee patted him on the back. "I was joking, sheesh, when did you lose your sense of humor, did that stupid HK droid take it?"

Outside of the cockpit, a rather loud mechanical voice responded, "Annoyed Statement: I heard that."

Jolee chuckled at the droid, "Shut up." Turning back to Revan he continued, "What the others did was get up and even with the doubt still there, they tried their best to get rid of whatever threat there was at the time. You just have to believe you can do it."

"Thanks Jolee, I guess that makes sense."

"What do you mean 'I guess'? Of course it makes sense!" Jolee said slapping Revan on the back of the head.

"Oww! Stupid old man!" Revan said, laughing.

Jolee laughed too. He turned to walk out of the cockpit, but stopped. He smiled at Revan, "You should probably go back and get some more sleep, there's more training tomorrow." Revan groaned and slowly walked back to his room.

As he entered, Bastila was sitting up in the bed and rubbing her eyes. "Where'd you go?"He smiled and got back in the bed, "I went to the bathroom, that's all. Go back to sleep." Bastila nodded and slowly lowered her head onto her pillow. Revan put his arms around her and fell asleep.

The next morning, Revan was dressed early and exited the ship. Outside he unlatched his lightsaber from his belt and proceeded to practice his lightsaber stances.

He slid his foot forward and then thrust his hand out, the lightsaber cutting through the air. He smoothly slid back to the left and stabbed forward again. He breathed calmly, letting the Force guide him, showing him that the slightest movement in his arm could alter the way the blade struck the opponent. "Wouldn't that be better with a partner?"

Revan looked up to see Joron leaning against the _Ebon Hawk._ "Yea, but I would really rather be alone right now."

"I'm sorry to say you won't be for long, the rest of the crew is starting to stir," Joron replied. Revan sighed and sat on the ground. Joron straightened and walked over, "You know you've been doing that a lot lately."

"What?" Revan asked.

Joron sighed sarcastically, "That."

"Yea, well, it's just that I feel as if the universe is depending on me and at the moment it's just too much. Every body expects me to work a miracle, to magically heal the Republic, but I don't think I can do it," Revan said, picking up a rock and throwing it.

Joron did the same, his going farther. He jokingly elbowed Revan in the side, "Haha, I win!" Revan smiled weakly. Joron stared at the ground for a few minutes then looked up at the sky, "Look, you don't need to take care of the universe's problems alone, you know. Just trust us, we can help you, that's what we're here for."

Revan smiled, "Yea, I know you guys will always be there for me." Revan picked up another rock, this time throwing it as far as he could. He laughed and turned to Joron, "Actually, I think _I_ win."

Joron laughed, "Bastard. Because of that, I'm working you extra hard."

Revan punched him in the arm jokingly, "Come on let's get back inside."

As they were walking back to the ship, the ground in front of them exploded. Both of them jumped in surprise and pulled out their lightsabers. They hummed to life as they looked around to see where the blast came from. They spotted it off in the distance, a cloud of dust was moving towards them.

"What is that?!" Joron exclaimed. Coming towards them was what looked to be a whole platoon of Sith. There were at least three Sith Elite Forces tanks, half a dozen transport vehicles, and a couple hundred troops marching towards them. The worst part was the three dark Jedi riding on the backs of boga, leading the small army.

"How the hell did they find us?!" Revan yelled, "Quick, get everyone up and ready, we need to go!" Joron nodded and ran up the ramp.

Revan stood for a few minutes longer, watching them slowly get closer. He forced himself to turn away and entered the ship. He was surprised by the sight in front of him. Lying on the ground, face down was Joron, and hovering over him was Goto. "Goto! What are you doing?" Revan asked incredulously.

"I'm sorry, but this is just good business. The Republic needs to survive, so I'm doing what's best for it," he calmly replied.

"And the rest of the crew?""Harmlessly knocked out."

Revan ignited his double-bladed lightsaber, "What do you expect to do against a Jedi?"

A chuckle escaped the droid's vocabulator, "You think I would plan this without precautions? Please, if you would do me the honor of looking up."

Revan slowly looked up, watching Goto out of the corners of his eyes. Above him jutting from the ceiling were two large metal poles. "What do they do?"

"This." A beeping was heard from Goto and electricity flew out of the poles and struck Revan. He spasmed and fell to the ground, unconscious. Goto moved over to him and attached a collar to his neck.

* * *

The fake Kreia walked down the halls, trying not to bring any attention to herself. She was making her way to the hangars, but was taking many detours, just in case she was followed. As the hangar doors came into sight, she noticed a small pad on the side of the door. Upon closer inspection, she realized that it needed a card key to open it.

She silently cursed as she tried to find a way to open the door without the key. She turned around as she heard whistling from behind her. Coming down the hall was a single guard.

_He might have the key! _the spy thought. Fake Kreia went into the adjacent hallway and waited in the darkness. The man came around the corner and walked up to the hangar bay door. He pulled out a small card, and was about to swipe it when Kreia jumped from the shadows. She quickly and silently incapacitated the guard with a blow to the back of his neck. She caught him with her one hand before he crashed to the floor.

She then proceeded to open the hangar and took a look around. Seeing nobody in the hangar, she pulled the guard in. Finding an empty box, she stuffed the Sith inside. Once she closed the lid, she silently walked up a ramp and into the control room. Quickly identifying the navigation computer, she turned it on and accessed the map.

A map of the planet appeared and the coordinates were up in the right hand corner. She pulled out her datapad and entered in the coordinates. At the bottom of the map, she noticed something. The name of the planet was there, Kilia IV. Interested, she went over to a different terminal and entered in the name. A single message appeared on the terminal:

Welcome Admiral,

This is Kilia IV, a Sith base, known as _World's End_, at the edge of the known universe. You are to report to the hangar attendant for more information regarding your stay. After, you are to report to the council chambers to speak to Darth Scourge, the commander of this installation. Delete this message after reading.

Kreia realized at that moment that the planet she was currently on was not the home world of the Sith.

* * *

Revan awoke in a strange room, strapped to a chair. He shook his head to clear it, _What's going on? The last thing I remember is...lightning...?...no electricity...it was Goto, that bastard._

"So, you are finally awake," a cold voice said. From the shadows a man appeared. "My name is Darth Tyriam, and if you want your friends to live, you will answer my questions. Is that clear?" Revan stared at the man, unblinking, showing no emotion. "I'm going to take that as a yes." He turned away from Revan, "What were you doing on this planet?" Revan remained silent, much to the interrogator's annoyance. "Answer me!" he said sternly.

"No, I will tell you nothing unless you answer my questions first," Revan replied.

The Sith spun around, his nose centimeters from Revan's, "This isn't a negotiation! You will do what I tell you!"

Revan closed his eyes, "I'm not negotiating with you, I'm _telling_ you, and you WILL answer my questions if you want me to answer yours."

Tyriam's eyes flared with anger and he brought his hand back, ready to punch Revan. He hesitated for a moment and then lowered his hand. "All right, what is it that you want to know?"

"Where are my friends?" Revan began.

"In a holding cell, and they're just fine. They were not harmed, barely even touched."

"Ok...where am I?"

"In an underground base on one of the many Sith controlled planets in the Unknown Regions. This is Kilia IV, once a planet crawling with creatures; we have wiped out any such infestation."

"Infestation?"

"Every living thing on this planet." Revan stared at Tyriam in horror. "Don't worry; we kept a couple of the inhabitants as pets."

Revan's brow furrowed and his eyes burned with anger. "You Sith are all monsters!" he spat.

The Sith smiled maliciously, "Thank you." The Sith walked to the corner of the room and picked up a chair that was sitting there and brought it over. He sat down in front of Revan and asked, "Anything else?"

"Yea one more question, where is Goto?"

Tyriam leaned forward putting his elbows on his knees and smiled, "Revenge, eh? I don't know where he is, he could be floating around anywhere, stupid droid. Now then, if that is all, it's time you answer my questions."

Revan lowered his head, "Alright."

* * *

Atton blinked his eyes a few times, trying to clear his vision. He was leaning against a wall in a small room, devoid of anything except a few of the crew spread across the floor. Visas and Mira were in the middle of the room, both slowly waking up. Carth was to his left, Joron his right, and standing at the back of the room was Juhani. She heard Atton groan and looked up, "Are you alright?"

"Yea, I'm good...how long you been up?" Atton asked.

"Not very long," was the reply.

Joron coughed and shook his head, "What the hell happened?"

Visas, already in a meditating position, answered, "The robot Goto betrayed us."

"I knew that bastard was no good, I should have seen it coming," Mira said.

"It's ok, we all should have. He only acts based on what he thinks is best for the Republic, and according to him, the best chance the Republic has is joining the Sith," Joron sighed and looked around the room, "Visas, what do you see?"

"I see...nothing. I can't see anything at all," Visas replied, fear evident in her voice.

"Calm down, Visas. I'm sure everything is alright," Joron assured her.

Joron's brow furrowed when Carth spoke, "Look, what's that on your neck?"

Joron reached up and touched a collar around his neck. "What the hell is this?"

At that moment, there was a hiss from the door as it opened; then a woman entered.

Joron turned and almost fell backwards in surprise. He stood open mouthed at the woman standing there. Finally, he regained his senses and managed to blurt out one word, "K-Kreia?"

* * *

Bastila slowly regained consciousness, and looked around her. Only half the crew joined her in the cell, all still unconscious. She brought herself into a sitting position and rubbed her temples. Her mind was foggy and it was hard for her to remember what had happened. She looked around to see who was with her. Standing at the back of the room were the two droids, HK and T3. Near the right wall lay Jolee and opposite him were Bao-Dur, Zalbaar, and Brianna. That meant that Joron, Mira, Visas, Juhani, Atton, and Carth were somewhere else.

As she tried to clear her mind and figure out what exactly was going on, Jolee stirred opposite her. He sat up looked over at Bastila groggily, "I feel like I was just trampled on by a bantha."

Bastila tried to chuckle but it came out as a groan instead. She shook her head, "Ughh, so do I."

She crossed her legs and began to meditate, trying to clear the fog from her head. As she reached out to the Force, she felt it slowly flow through her. It felt like the gentleness of a small wave washing up on the shore, but as soon as the relief had come, it was taken away. Bastila recoiled from the Force as an electrical shock was sent through her body. She spasmed on the ground until the effect wore off. She reached up to her neck and touched a collar.

"Looks like a Force suppression collar to me," Jolee said, "The Sith have found a way to do that?" He shook his head, "Their dangerous, the Sith. Why not get the droids to look at it?"

T3-M4 rolled over and let out a few beeps and whirs. "Please, would you look at this T3?"

The droid beeped happily in response and inserted one of its arms into the collar. A few seconds later, he was sent flying backwards from a large electrical shock.

From across the room, HK chuckled, "Statement: It seems that that collar will only come off with the right code, and it has built in fail-safes against hackers."

"Damn, seems we're stuck here until someone gets us out," Jolee stated.

"Well, we'll just wait until everyone else wakes up and see what they think."

"Yea, that's a good idea."

One by one, the rest of the crew awoke and they gathered in the center of the room. Brianna was the first to speak when everyone was awake. "So now that we are all awake and over half the crew is somewhere else, what do we do?"

Bao-Dur spoke up, "Why doesn't Bastila or Jolee use their power to blow us out of here?"

"Can't, see this collar? It seems that it is a Force suppression collar, so no one can use the Force at all," Jolee replied.

Zalbaar roared, "We could force our way out, we have more than the Force, you know."

"Annoyed Statement: Don't be naive you furry meatbag, we do not know how many of them there are," HK retorted.

"He's got a point, you know. This is a Sith base, they could have a small army in here," Brianna agreed.

"That's correct," they heard from behind them. They turned to see a Sith standing there, with a very large bruise on his face. "I am Darth Tyrium, and you are right to assume that there is a small army in the base. Plus, as I'm sure you've already figured out, you all are equipped with one of the collars." The Sith chuckled, "Without the Force, you would be hard pressed to get out of here alive. But I am actually here to tell you that Revan is fine and being held in another room, however, due to an incident," the man rubbed his cheek, "one of you is going to be punished, severely." He walked forward into the room, "Unless one of you can convince Revan to answer my questions."

No one stood up; they all knew that nobody could convince Revan to do something he didn't want to, not only that, no one in the room _wanted_ to. They would all gladly take the punishment before working with the enemy.

When no one answered, Tyrium walked over and slapped Brianna, "If you don't help me, then she dies."

There was a flash of movement and Bao-Dur had the Sith by his throat. "You touch her again, _you_ die."

The Sith smiled. He placed his palm on Bao-Dur's chest and a ripple flowed through the air as he was thrown across the room. "Don't EVER touch me again or I'll kill you."

Bastila stood, "Don't!" The Sith glanced over at her, "Don't hurt anyone else, I'll go talk to Revan."

"Good, follow me."

Tyrium walked out of the room, Bastila close behind. She quickly glanced back at Jolee and gave a slight nod. Jolee nodded back as she disappeared from sight.

* * *

The fake Kreia walked in as the door opened, only to see a strange gathering of people. One of them gasped and whispered her new name aloud. She rushed over and clamped a hand over his mouth. "Shhhhh! Don't say a word! I'm here to help you."

She removed her hand and Joron looked at her suspiciously. Mira walked over and tapped her on the shoulder. When Kreia turned around, she was met with a fist to the face. "Why can't you stay dead you old hag?" she half-screamed, as not to alert the guards.

When she regained her balance, she held up her one hand, "Please, listen to me! I'm not who you think I am."

"Then who are you?" Carth asked, resting a hand on Mira's shoulder, more to hold her back than anything else.

"I have no name, I am a changeling, and I am working for a Jedi to find the whereabouts of the Sith home world. I heard you were here and came to help."

Carth turned his head to Juhani. She understood and walked over to the proposed fake Kreia. She took a deep breath through her nose and closed her eyes. "She is telling the truth, there is no smell of deception on her."

Joron stood up, "Then continue your story."

The fake Kreia nodded...

**1 Standard Coruscant Hour Ago**

The spy looked at the terminal screen in anger. _If it says that this planet isn't the home world, _she thought, _then why did they tell me, or make it seem that it was?_

Before she could continue to explore the Sith's reasoning, she noticed a red light blinking on and off at the bottom of the terminal. Intrigued, she accessed it and a message came up:

To all personnel, be on high alert. There are multiple class 1 prisoners being held in the detention bay that will try to escape. Use whatever means necessary to prevent their escape should it occur, deadly force has been approved. Among the prisoners is Revan, Bastila Shan, and Joron Kraus.

She gasped as she read the names on the message. _Revan? _she thought, _Revan is here? I...I have to find him!_

She typed in a few commands and a few seconds later a map of the base was on the screen. She committed it to memory and exited the hangar bay.The fake followed her mental map and soon came upon the hallway leading to the holding cells. She quickly glanced around the corner and spotted two guards patrolling the hallway. _I'll have to do this fast..._she thought to herself.

She straightened up and walked around the corner. The guards saw her coming and one of them raised their blaster at her. "What do you want?"

"I wish to see the prisoners."

"No one is allowed to see the prisoners at this time," he curtly replied.

"I see..." Before the first one could react, she reached out and grabbed his neck with her only hand. She squeezed and the guard dropped like a rock. As the other brought his blaster up to aim at her, she rushed forward and slammed the edge of her hand into his wrist. He immediately let go of the blaster and in one fluid motion, Kreia brought her hand away from his wrist, grabbed his neck, and squeezed. He quickly joined his friend on the floor. In all, the time it took from beginning to end was less than thirty seconds.

She bent down and searched the guard. When Kreia came up she had a datapad in her hand. "Sith these days...keeping the codes in his pocket," she said, shaking her head. She went up to the door and entered the five-digit code. There was a small beep and a click from the door. Fake Kreia waited as the door slid open...

**Present Time**

"...and that's how I got here."

Kreia finished her story and waited for their response.

Joron let out a breath, "At least you're not the real Kreia."

"What now?" Atton asked.

Carth put his hand on his shoulder, "We get the others and get out of here."

* * *

Bastila followed Tyrium down a long hallway, lights flickering, as they finally stopped at a door. The Sith entered a code into the pad on the side of the door, purposefully obstructing Bastila's view. "Go in and tell him that if he doesn't answer my questions, you die."

The door hissed open and Bastila stepped through. Sitting in a chair, tied to it, was Revan.

His eyes were swollen and a dark purple color. His nose was broken and blood flowed from it into his mouth which was cut and torn. His arm was bent in an awkward position and his shoulder pulled out of its socket. By the looks of it, he had been tortured once it was made clear he would not answer the Sith's questions.

Bastila gasped at the sight, covering her mouth with her hands, tears forming in her eyes. She rushed over and knelt next to Revan. She took his face in her hands and lifted it so she could look him in the eye. He smiled, "Bas, what are you doing here?"

"They sent me to tell you to answer their questions," she replied, smiling back at him despite the tears.

"I can't do that Bas, you know I can't."

"I know; I came to tell you that no matter what happens, don't tell them anything. We will find a way to get out of here."

Revan nodded his head slightly. "I love you," he whispered and then passed out.

She cried, holding his head to her chest, "I love you too. Just hold on for a little while."

Bastila jumped as there was a loud bang and an indentation appeared in the door. There were a few more indentations made before the door gave in and collapsed into the room.

Joron walked in, a grim look on his face. He looked around to make sure there was no one else inside the room. He walked over and inserted a key into her collar. It beeped and fell from her neck, clattering to the floor. He gave Bastila her lightsaber, "Grab him and follow us, we'll explain later."

Bastila activated her lightsaber and cut Revan free. She put one of his arms around her shoulder and proceeded to follow Joron into the hallway.

In the hallway stood the whole crew plus two, worried looks on their faces, but once they saw that Revan and Bastila were alright, they sighed in relief. Lying on the floor not to far away was the unmoving corpse of Darth Tyrium, his body cut in half.

"Come on we need to get moving, we're two floors beneath the surface and we need to reach the top as soon as possible," the fake Kreia said, leading the group forward.

They proceeded up towards the surface, running into minimal resistance. "Something's wrong, I can sense it," Juhani said.

It seemed that she was correct because at that moment, she was lifted into the air and flew backwards. The crew turned in time to see Juhani sliced in half.

Standing there in front of them was a True Sith. His hood covered his face, but you could still see his eyes which were a dark red, almost purple color; his cloak swirled around him like it was caught in a storm. He stepped forward, over Juhani's top section of her body.

"You are fools to try and escape. Though, I suppose you might have if I had not returned from the council," he hissed.

Joron scowled, _Frak, now what do we do? We can't fight a True Sith!_

Then someone ran forward and leapt at the Sith!

It was Mira who had attacked, lightsaber raised above her head. "This is for Juhani!" she screamed, tears falling from her cheeks.

She brought her lightsaber down, but only slashed at empty air. As she turned to look behind her, she was met with the end of a lightsaber. Everyone watched as her body slumped to the ground, her head a few feet away.

"If you want to live, no one else will attempt that," he warned.

Joron began backing up, urging the others to do the same, but one didn't move. The fake Kreia stood her ground against the Sith Lord. "Go now, I'll try to hold him off," the woman said.

Joron didn't need to be told twice, and turned and forced the crew to run for it. After a while, he noticed that Visas had stopped following them. "What are you doing?" Joron called to her.

"That fake won't last long enough, so I'll stay and hold him off as well," she replied.

"But you'll die!"

"It is a sacrifice that I am willing to make." Visas smiled underneath her veil, "Don't worry about me, now go!"

Joron nodded and hesitated before running after the crew, giving one last glance at the disappearing Miruluka woman.

When Joron caught up with them, they had already burst through the door to the surface. Off in the distance the _Ebon Hawk _was seemingly waiting for them and they sprinted towards it, Revan being carried by Carth and Atton. As they approached the door, T3 let out a loud beep and the ramp to the _Hawk_ began to lower.

Once onboard, Joron put Revan in his bed and then continued to the cockpit. Atton and Carth already had the ship turned on and were prepping the systems.

Out on the surface, the Sith walked out of the base in time to see the ship lift itself from the ground and make its way out of the atmosphere. The Sith scowled and lifted his hand.

The ship came to a sudden stop, and then started moving backwards. "What the hell?!" Joron yelled. "What's going on?"

"I don't know, we can't move forward, no matter how much power we put in the engine," Atton replied.

Joron ran to the back of the ship and hit the ramp button. It slowly opened and Joron saw the Sith standing there, hands outstretched, pulling the ship closer to the surface. He looked over his shoulder and smiled, _Looks like I'll have to save them again._

Joron crouched low, preparing to jump when movement in the corner of his eye brought his attention back to the base. A limping Visas had appeared through the door and was raising her hand at the dark sider. A bolt of lightning flew from her fingertips and struck the cloaked figure in the back. Up on the ramp, just as the lightning had left Visas' fingertips, Joron had already hit the button for the ramp to close, and pushed the intercom button yelling at Carth to punch it. Joron sighed and quietly thanked Visas; it hadn't been much, but she had given them the chance to escape.

Joron wiped tears from his eyes as he slowly walked to the cockpit. Upon arriving he was surprised to see Revan there leaning against Bastila. "Revan, what are you doing out of bed? You need to rest," Joron said, a concerned tone in his voice.

When he didn't answer, Joron was about to ask what was wrong when he realized that Revan was looking at something. Joron followed his gaze through the front viewport and looked at the hundreds of stars. He searched space for what Revan saw, but saw nothing, just the stars. Joron looked back at Revan questioningly.

This time, Revan spoke, "Carth, enlarge the picture."

Carth typed in a few commands to the computer and there was a flash as a hologram covered the windshield and Bastila gasped. On the screen was an armada of Sith ships. They varied in size, from large destroyers, to the smaller cruisers, each armed to the teeth with heavy weaponry.

"It looks like only one of those destroyers could destroy an entire planet it has so much firepower!" Carth exclaimed.

"Man, one of the cruisers could!" Atton replied.

"This is just a small portion of the beast that is the Sith..." Everyone turned and stared at Revan. "We need to head back and alert the Republic, we have to prepare them for war."

"They won't be ready in time; they'll be overrun before they can fight back!" Joron worriedly pointed out.

"I know...call Mandalore," Revan said rather calmly.

Carth and Atton both turned to look at him at the same time. "What?" they asked in unison.

"I said call Mandalore, tell him to prepare for war."

Carth nodded hesitantly and spun his chair back around to the controls. A few commands later there was static from the speakers and a gruff voice asked happily, "Hello? Is that you Revan?"

"Yea, it's me," he replied.

"You don't sound good, what's going on?" Mandalore asked.

"Prepare the troops; get everyone ready, war is almost upon us."

There was silence from the other side. "You're kidding right? Already? I haven't gathered all the tribes!"

"Once they see the Mandalorians fighting against this threat, they will surely come and join as well. The chance to fight a powerful enemy is too tempting I think."

Mandalore seemed to think about that for a minute and then, "You're right, they will surely join the fight later on."

"Good...now we will be returning to the Republic. I want you to make yourself known to the Senate and tell them I have requested an emergency session. I will be there soon," Revan commanded.

"Ok, but before you go, there is someone here that has been looking for you."

Revan's head tilted to the side, "Who is it?"

"Revan? Is that really you?!" came a familiar voice.

"Nicho!" Revan exclaimed, surprise evident on his face.

"Yea, it's me!" he replied happily.

Revan laughed, "It's been a while; it's great to hear from you!"

"It's good to hear you too. I want you to know that I will follow you and help you fight the Sith."

Revan nodded, "Alright Nicho, but we will be equals here, you will help me lead these men. It will be you, me, and Joron."

"The General is there too?" Nicho asked.

"Hello, Nicho," Joron replied, obviously amused at Nicho's energetic greeting.

"Ok Nicho, the first thing I need you to do is help Mandalore rally the Mandalorians and have them ready to go at a moments notice. Second, go to Coruscant with Mandalore and try to talk the Senate into preparing the Republic for war, I'll be there shortly."

"Yes, sir!" was the quick reply.

Revan sighed, staring out into the blackness of space and whispered, "Now the game of chess begins."

* * *

Darth Scourge sat in the council chambers, seething. The incompetence of his men made him scream in rage. As soon as Revan and the others escaped he had called a meeting of his commanders. They were late...

There was whoosh as the door opened and three men walked inside nervously. Scourge stood and glared at the men, but then sighed. "It is mostly my fault," he began, "for believing that you could keep Revan prisoner."

One of the commanders raised his hand, "My Lord, Tyriam...he's...dead."

"I know, I felt him go." He stood for a while, then, "I have not called you here to kill you or demote you. I have asked you to be here so that I can tell you of our plans for the future."

A murmur came from one of the men, but Scourge ignored it and continued, "We will be invading in one week's time, and we will be the main force. You three will lead the first attack on the Republic. Our first target is Dantooine, where the remnants of the Jedi order are located. You are to go and devise a battle plan and report back to me. Dismissed, I need to call the other members of the council."

The men bowed and left the room. Scourge called up droid, "Put me in contact with the other Sith."

The droid beeped and then there was a hologram of the council chambers on the home world, the six other Sith sitting there. Tyranel was the first to speak, "You have let Revan escape, explain yourself."

"The imposter had hacked into the hangar bay terminal looking for the coordinates to Kilia, but found a message leading her to Revan. She freed them and they escaped, however, the spy has been disposed of."

"I told you we should have killed her when we had the chance!" Kalmintal exclaimed.

Tyranel raised his hand to silence him, "What's done is done, the more important question is did you inform your commanders of their job?"

"They are working on it as we speak," Scourge replied.

Eragiever nodded, "Good, good all is well. Revan is afraid, I can feel him. He is fleeing to the Republic as we speak. Our invasion will commence soon and victory will not be far behind."

Darth Angarous nodded, "Even though Revan escaped, he cannot stop us, he is but one man. He cannot gather an army powerful enough to fight us."

"Do not underestimate him, he is resourceful," Enragiever warned.

"Whatever the case," Scourge said, "I will be sure to commence my part of the invasion without flaw."

"We hope to hear from you soon to hear your plan," Tyranel said, turning off his end of the hologram.

Scourge smirked and turned around, "Now as for you..." Sitting there in a chair, unconscious, sat Visas. "What to do with you..."


	8. Chapter 8 Mandalorians!

So this is it, chapter 8 all finished. Chapter 9 will be a flashback chapter of what I think happened during the war and after, leading all the way up to now. I'm not sure yet how to do this, whether I'll do two chapters or one huge one.

Anyway, it'll get done when it gets done. Hope you enjoy, and R&R please.

* * *

**Mandalorians?!**

Nicho gathered his crew at the front gate of the Jedi Library on Ossus, "We have to get to the hangars and get off this planet fast, the Genoharadan are on the way."

His crew nodded and watched him open the door, following him out of the Jedi library. It was dusk, the light of the one remaining sun glimmering off the ruins of the once grand city of Knossa. It was eerily quiet, nothing moved and nothing was alive. Most of the vegetation had died and almost all of the inhabitants perished when the one sun went supernova. There was a slight breeze as litter from an abandoned scavenger camp rolled across the road.

Once outside, Nicho split them into four groups of two. He had split them up so as not to make them such a good target. If they were grouped together, they could easily be surrounded.

Dustil and Mission went off to the left and down an alley and Beron and Kruoshk went to the right. The two droids went straight down the middle, taking the most direct route toward the hangar.

Karine looked up and pointed at the sky, "Look, a ship."

"Shavit," Nicho said, watching the ship descend toward the hangar their ship was currently located in. He waved for Karine to follow him and they prowled through the darkness as the sun disappeared over the horizon.

They soon reached the hangar, the bounty hunter's ship sitting next to the _Interceptor_. Nicho scowled as he watched mercenaries march out of the ship and take up a patrol around the hangar. "Damn," he muttered. "Got any ideas?" he whispered, turning to Karine.

"We could take them out, but it would be best to do it as quietly as possible," Karine whispered back.

Nicho felt a small quiver in the Force and looked across the hangar. Creeping through the shadows was Kruoshk, a small vibroknife in his hand. "He must have thought of the same thing," Nicho said, pointing towards the bothan.

Kruoshk crept up behind the first guard, keeping as quiet as he could. He stood up, covered the man's mouth with his one hand while slitting his throat with the knife. He dragged his body into the shadows and moved on to the next one. This time, however, Nicho noticed that three guards had disappeared. He looked around and saw Dustil and Beron had also taken out guards.

The five remaining guards looked around, noticing that their comrades were missing, but it was too late. The Xim war robot burst from the shadows and mowed them down with blaster fire. More men came out of the other ship, but Xim kept them pinned as the crew piled into the ship. Xim had to stop firing and hunch over in order to get his eight foot frame into the ship.

Beron was already at the controls and starting up the system when there was an explosion from outside. He looked out the front and saw the other ship in flames. Kruoshk smiled, "That was me, thought I'd leave them a little present."

"Brilliant," Beron replied. He finished the start up and took off.

Nicho stood behind Beron as they blasted out of the atmosphere and out toward space. "That," Nicho sighed, wiping sweat from his forehead, "was close."

Beron shook his head, "Tell me about it."

At that moment, the ship shook and Nicho fell, hitting his head while falling to the ground. "Shavit," Beron called out, "We didn't see it because it was cloaked, but there was another ship and it's firing at us!"

Nicho remembered bringing his hand away from his head and seeing blood before losing consciousness.

Karine stumbled into the cockpit, "What the hell is going on?"

"There was a second ship," Kruoshk replied, "We're currently trying to lose her."

Karine looked down and saw Nicho lying on the floor, blood flowing from his head. She rushed over and pulled Nicho up. She tore off a piece of her robe and wrapped it around his head, stopping the bleeding.

She was just finishing wrapping his head when there was an explosion at the back of the ship. "Sith's blood!" Beron yelled, "They hit the engines, we're done for."

Karine waited, waited for the bounty hunters to deliver the final blow, but it never came. Instead, they started moving backwards, towards the ship. "Now what?" Karine asked.

"They're bringing us into their ship," Kruoshk replied.

Beron slammed his fists on the now dead ship controls, "Damn it!"

OoOoO

Nicho woke up to the smell of caffa. He blinked his eyes a few times, clearing his vision. He looked around and saw that he was in a rather large room with some chairs and a table in the middle of it. He was currently lying down on a bed in the far corner.

He sat up and moved so his feet hung over the side of the bed. Holding his head with his hand, he stood up and slowly made his way to the delicious aroma. He found himself at a counter, a caffa machine sitting on top of it. He grabbed a cup and filled it.

After taking a sip, he sighed and went and sat in one of the chairs. He looked around the room, but saw no one else there. "Where am I?" he asked aloud.

"You are on my ship, drinking my caffa, and sitting in my chair," a kind voice replied.

Nicho turned around and saw a man standing there, his hands behind his back. He entered, got his own cup of caffa, and took a seat across from Nicho. Nicho glared at the man, "Where is my crew?"

"They are probably in the cafeteria eating," he replied nonchalantly.

"They aren't locked up?" he asked. The man shook his head. "Aren't you worried we might escape?"

"Escape? Why would I care if you escaped?" the man laughed.

Nicho stared incredulously at the man, "But...but you attacked us! And...and took us prisoner...didn't you?"

The strange man laughed again, "That was all a misunderstanding, you see I just wanted to talk to you, but you attacked us before we could say anything. When you tried to fly away we had to stop you, so we shot your engines. Sorry for the, uh...injury."

Nicho opened and closed his mouth. "We're...sorry, I guess," he finally said. He scratched his head and winced, "I still don't understand what happened."

The man stood up and walked over and inspected Nicho's head, "Please, don't itch at the wound, we've closed it up but it might re-open." He walked back over to his seat and sat down, taking a drink from his cup. "You see, we just wanted to speak to you about something important."

Nicho's brow furrowed, "Alright, but first...who are you?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I haven't introduced myself. I, my friend, am Pakin Tortrin and I am a member of the Genoharadan. If you want a sense of my authority in this guild, you can consider me second in command."

Nicho shook his head, "Genoharadan? You mean the bounty hunter cult?"

Pakin nodded, "Exactly, though, cult makes it seem...evil. We are more of a society, a society that seeks to protect the galaxy. Yes we are bounty hunters, but we only hunt the ones we deem dangerous to the ongoing existence of the galaxy and Republic. You may remember an incident on Onderon, a man named Vakloo performed a coup?"

"Yea, I remember; the exile stopped him right?"

"Yes," Pakin confirmed, "but he told Queen Talia to spare him and put him to trial. That was a mistake of course. You may have heard that a few days later he died of a mysterious poison. It was said he committed suicide, but that was a lie. It was the Genoharadan that took care of him."

Nicho put his head in his hands and rubbed his temples, "What is it that you want from us?"

"Our numbers are starting to dwindle, we need new members," he said.

"Why, what's happening to them?" Nicho asked.

"The Sith," Pakin answered grimly, "It seems the Sith are on the move again and our bounty hunters are joining them."

Nicho seemed startled, "How do you know the Sith are coming back?"

"They approached us with a job, a bounty that I almost accepted. I planned on personally taking care of him, but my information says that this man is not a threat to the Republic. In seems he is quite the opposite actually."

"Are you talking about Revan?"

"No, the job was to kill _you_. They offered us immunity when they took over the Republic, but I turned them down and cut off communications with them. I have since talked to the leader and asked him to forbid accepting this job."

"Thank you, you seem to have been watching my back without me knowing it," Nicho said, smiling.

"Not a problem, but as I said before, we are looking for new members and I would like you to join us."

Nicho raised an eyebrow, "Why me, I'm no bounty hunter."

"Like I said, you are helping the Republic, and you could use our information," Pakin replied.

Nicho rubbed his chin, "You're right, we could use the additional information, but what's the catch?"

Pakin laughed, "You saw right through me. The leader does require you do one thing for us and in exchange you will gain access to every Genoharadan information network in the galaxy." The man paused for a moment, hesitating, "A-and I have decided to give you some rather important information."

"About what?"

"It...regards your family."

"My family? I don't know who my family is; I was taken the Jedi academy when I was too young to remember anything."

"Yes, well...when we were doing a background check on you, we found your family. Your mother is still alive, and she had three more children since you were taken away."

Nicho stood up excitedly, "What are their names? Where do they live?"

Pakin shook his head, "I'm sorry, but you must do what the leader asks of you before I can tell you."

"Well?" he wondered, "Out with it, what do you want me to do?"

The man smiled, "We want you to go to Dxun."

"Onderon's moon?" Nicho questioned.

Pakin nodded, "We are looking for a certain camp, but anytime we send someone there, they disappear. We thought that you might have more luck."

"What kind of camp?"

"A Mandalorian camp, and we want to confirm its existence."

"Weren't they disbanded and scattered across the galaxy?"

"That's why this news is disturbing, if the Mandalorians are reorganizing themselves, it could be disastrous if they join the Sith," the man said.

Nicho leaned back in his chair, "So you want me to offer a flag of peace?"

"Yes, if they could be convinced to join the Republic..." Pakin began.

"Then we could have a greater chance of standing up to the Sith!" Nicho finished.

Pakin gave a toothy smile, "Exactly. Now, you may leave the ship when you want, your ship has been repaired. Go to Dxun and find out if this Mandalorian camp exists and then we'll talk more about your family."

"How will I contact you when I'm done?" Nicho asked.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a datapad, "Take this, put this in your com terminal and it will send a message through the holonet to this ship. I'll then contact you."

"Alright I'll do it, and you promise I can learn about my family?"

"Of course, now go, I'll contact my people to escort your friends to the hangar. They will meet you there." Pakin pushed a button on the underside of his chair arm. A man walked into the room a few seconds later. "Take our friend to his ship." The other man nodded and motioned for Nicho to follow him.

After walking down a few corridors, they came to a door and it slid open. The man stood to the side and allowed Nicho to enter first. The _Interceptor_ was there, Pakin's men standing around it. They were cleaning up their supplies as they had just finished fixing the ship. To Nicho's right another door opened and Karine walked in, closely followed by the others.

When she saw Nicho, she rushed over, "You're alright! We didn't know where you were on this ship and nobody would tell us."

Nicho smiled, "Glad to see you were worried, but I'm ok. They took care of my injury and I just had a nice long talk with the captain."

"What do they want?" Beron asked as he walked up behind Karine.

"They want us to become members of the Genoharadan," Nicho replied.

"You didn't say yes did you?"

Nicho smiled hesitantly, "Well...you see...they have some information that I _really_ want and they were willing to grant us access to their information network...and we were going there anyway so..."

Beron slapped his forehead, "Damn it Nicho."

"Nicho must have had a good reason for doing it," Mission said, shoving Beron, "So why did you tell them yes?"

"They know where my family is and I want to find them."

"Your family? That's great!" Karine exclaimed.

Beron rolled his eyes and waved his hands in the air, "Woo, yippee, that's amazing, but what do they want in return?"

"All we need to do is go to Dxun," Nicho replied.

Beron shook his head, "You need to go tell these guys we don't want to be involved."

"Chill out, Beron," Dustil urged, "We were going there anyway, what's the difference if we do what they want while we're there?"

The eight foot Xim robot spoke up, "I believe Nicho is right, the Genoharadan may be a notorious group of bounty hunters, but their group spans the galaxy. Their information network might be of use to us."

Kruoshk nodded, "The Bothan network is good, but with the bounty hunter network as well, we will have almost an unlimited supply of information. This could prove to be a very formidable partnership."

"Are there any other objections?" Nicho asked. No one else said anything. "Good, then let's get going, we need to get to Dxun."

OoOoO

Nicho stretched and got out of bed. They had left the Genoharadan ship only an hour ago and were heading toward Dxun. They would get there within the next hour. There was a knock at his door and a feminine voice asked, "Nicho, are you up?"

"Yea," he replied, "What is it?"

"Can I come in?"

Nicho waved his hand and the door slid open. Karine walked in and stood in front of Nicho. He raised an eyebrow as he noticed she was blushing. "What is it?" he asked. She pointed at him and Nicho looked down, "Oh, I'm not wearing my shirt." He stood up and walked over to a pile of clothes. After some digging, he pulled out a shirt and slipped it on. "Sorry about that."

Karine was looking down at the ground, "That's all right, I don't mind."

"So what did you want to talk about?" he asked.

Karine walked over and sat next to Nicho, "Are they really going to tell you about your family?"

"Yep," Nicho said excitedly, "They're still alive, and I have three younger siblings! Isn't that great?"

Karine nodded her head and smiled, "That is great." She hesitated for a moment, "Do you think I could I meet them?"

"Of course you can! I'll take the whole crew to see them!"

"Good." She fidgeted before asking, "So what are we looking for on Dxun?"

Nicho leaned in close, "Don't tell anybody, because I don't want them to worry, but we're looking for Mandalorians."

"So, they have tribes everywhere, what's so special about this one?" she asked.

"Pakin, the captain of the ship we were on, didn't give me much information. He did tell me that they could be reorganizing themselves and that this camp is the beginning of the Mandalorians' return."

"But if the Mandalorians are coming back, why hasn't anyone else heard about it? The holonet would be going crazy if they found out that the Mandalorians are coming back."

"I know, but they must know how to keep a good secret," Nicho said smiling. "Besides, this is just speculation; there could be nothing there at all."

Karine nodded and looked down at the floor. There was a silence between the two and they sat there awkwardly for a while. "Um, Nicho, can I ask you something?" Karine questioned, blushing.

"Sure," he replied, slightly confused.

"W-well, I was wondering..." she began.

She was interrupted as the door to Nicho's room opened. Beron stood there and said, "You got a message from that guy, Pakin, or something."

"Excuse me, can we talk about it later?" he asked Karine. Turning back to Beron, "Patch it through, I'll be there in a second."

He stood up to go and Karine raised her hand to grab him, but pulled it back down. She got up and went back to her room.

OoOoO

On his way back to the cockpit, Beron was ambushed by Mission. "You couldn't have waited five minutes?" she asked.

"What?" Beron asked confused.

Mission grabbed his collar and shook him, "They were sooooo close damn it!"

"Who was close? I don't understand!" Beron cried out. Mission pushed him away and shook her head. "What is that girl talking about?" Beron wondered.

"Who knows," a voice said behind him.

Beron turned around and saw Dustil, "How long were you standing there?"

"The whole time," he replied.

"So...do you know what she was talking about?" Beron asked.

"Nothing, don't worry about it."

Beron shook his head and walked back to the cockpit, confusion written all over his face. Nicho looked up, "You ok?"

"Yea just...people on this ship are weird."

Nicho laughed, "Everyone's a little weird, I'd worry if nobody was. Could you patch that message through now?"

Beron tapped a few buttons and a hologram appeared. Pakin floated there, "I am sending you coordinates. You are to land at these coordinates and search the surrounding area because that is where the Mandalorian camp supposedly is."

"Did he just say Mandalorians?" Beron asked.

Nicho smiled nervously, "Is that a problem?"

"Oh no, just considering that I was in a war with them and hate them with a passion." Beron paused and then asked the hologram, "Is that it? We're only going there to look for Mandalorians?"

"Yes, I will see you all again soon," Pakin said, waving. The hologram turned off and Nicho stood there for a couple seconds.

"We really going to do what they want?" Beron questioned Nicho.

"Yes, now leave it be Beron, just get us to Dxun."

In another part of the ship, Karine lay on her bed, staring at the ceiling. A knock caused Karine to turn her head and look. It was Mission, and Karine told her she could enter. Mission cleared her throat, "So how did it go?"

Karine blushed, "What are you talking about?"

"Don't give me that, I know what's going on," Mission said, putting her hands on her hips, "Plus, a little eavesdropping never did anyone any harm."

"You were spying on us?"

"No...not spying, not exactly," Mission tried to explain.

Karine smiled, "That is alright, but he is so thickheaded."

"All guys are, you just need to talk slowly, use small words, and if need be, use pictures."

"That is mean," Karine said, but couldn't keep from laughing.

"Next time we get a break from the action, you make sure to ask him," Mission ordered.

Karine smiled, "Okay, but I am not sure I should now that I think about it."

"Why not?" Mission asked.

Karine hesitated, "I am not entirely sure I _like_ him, it could just be a friend kind of like." She sighed, "I just do not know."

Mission came over and sat down next to Karine, "Sorry, but I can't help you with that. You're the one that needs to decide this, you just need to think about it." Mission got up to leave, "Oh, and always listen to your heart, it's never wrong."

OoOoO

Beron entered the atmosphere of Onderon's moon and put the ship down on the exact spot they were told to. Nicho exited the ship and stood at the bottom of the ramp as his crew came out. "We have a lot of ground to cover, so I think we should split up and look for this base."

The droids were told to stay and guard the ship as the rest went off into the jungle.

Mission and Dustil had gone to check south of their landing site. They walked cautiously through the jungle, careful to avoid getting stuck in the overgrowth. "Do you think we'll actually find this Mandalorian camp?" Dustil asked.

"Yea, I do. And if I'm right, I know exactly who's running the damn thing," she replied.

"Who?"

"An old friend, but it's just a hunch." They entered a clearing and saw a large metal object, just beginning to be entangled in vines. "What is it?" Mission asked.

"It looks like..." Dustil got closer, "It looks like a piece to a ship, but it's fairly new."

"That means someone crashed on the planet!" Mission exclaimed.

"Yea, but there's a problem, there aren't any bodies," Dustil pointed out.

"Well this is only a part of the ship right?"

"The cockpit part." He paused and looked around, "Something's wrong." He activated his lightsaber, "Something's very wrong."

Mission pulled out her lightsaber as well. The green blade extended from the handle and gave off a hum. Dustil kneeled down and took a handful of dirt. He slowly stood up and then tossed the dirt to his right. It seemed to float in the air, and Dustil swung his lightsaber. There was the sound of static and then the enemy appeared. He had been invisible.

"A Sith!" Mission gasped.

"Careful, there may be more of them," Dustil cautioned.

Three more materialized in front of them.

OoOoO

Beron and Kruoshk trekked through the forest, their progress slow. Beron grumbled loudly. "We've already been attacked twice by those damned wild animals. Stupid wild animals," Beron complained.

"Stop complaining, it could be worse," Kruoshk pointed out.

Beron laughed, "How?"

"Could be raining," Kruoshk said. At that moment there was a crack of thunder and the clouds opened. They were drenched immediately.

"You had to say it, you just had to fraking say it," Beron angrily said. He grumbled louder now and cursed at the jungle.

They had been searching for about an hour when they stumbled onto an abandoned camp. There were remnants of a fire and a dead cannok lay, half eaten, to the side of it. "This camp," Kruoshk observed, "it's too small for a large group. If anything I'd say this was a scouting camp. No more than three or four people."

"A scouting party, eh? They must not like visitors," Beron said.

"Damn right we don't," a voice said behind them.

The both of them spun around and they each were looking down the tube of a blaster. At the other end of both were two large men in blue armor, Mandalorians. "Don't shoot!" Beron called out.

"We ain't gonna shoot ya, we're just going to rip off your heads," he replied.

Beron leaned over to Kruoshk, "Well that's not any better. Think of something!"

"I'm trying, what do you think I'm doing?" Kruoshk replied.

"Look mister Mandalorian, we're not here to start any trouble. You see we are with a friend, he's a Jedi, and right now he's looking for another Jedi. That other Jedi is Revan," Beron tried to explain.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. You guys are looking for Revan?" the one on the right asked. Kruoshk and Beron nodded their heads. The one on the right looked over at the other one, "What do you think?"

The other one thought for a moment, "Let's take them to Mandalore, he'll know what to do."

"Mandalore? But he's supposed to be dead!" Kruoshk exclaimed. "There could never be a successor because Revan took the helmet of Mandalore the Ultimate."

"Maybe, maybe not, either way you're going to find out. Come on, get moving." He walked behind Beron and hit him with the blaster. He staggered forward, catching himself before he fell. He grumbled, but kept walking.

Not ten minutes after they had been captured, they walked into a large camp. There were at least a dozen buildings and hundreds of Mandalorians walked between them. They entered the first building on their left and were told to wait. One Mandalorian went into another room and soon came back followed by Mandalore. "What are you two doing here?" he asked.

"Look, we're here because we heard Revan was here at one point. We came to see why," Kruoshk replied.

"And why are you looking for Revan," the gold armored Mandalorian asked.

"We could tell you, but I think our friend Nicho could explain it better," Beron said.

"And who is this Nicho guy?" Mandalore asked.

"A Jedi, and a friend of Revan's and Joron Kraus," the Bothan replied.

"The general? And Revan?" He seemed startled as he turned to the two beside him, "Find them, bring anyone you find here immediately."

"You seem anxious," Beron noted.

"We shot a ship down recently, but when we went to check it out, it was empty. We found evidence that it is a Sith ship. Your friend could be in danger."

A scared look covered Beron's face, "We have more than one friend out there."

"What do they look like?" Mandalore asked.

Kruoshk described them, "Nicho has a beard and long hair and he's with a girl named Karine. She's easy to spot since she's got these bright green eyes. Then there's another boy, Dustil and he's with a twi'lek named Mission."

"Did you say Mission? Mission Vao?" he asked. He sounded completely agitated at this point.

"Yea but...how did you...?" Beron questioned.

"Shavit," Mandalore cursed. "I'll be back, I'm going myself. Don't leave this building or you'll be shot."

OoOoO

Karine followed Nicho, careful not to fall too far behind. She was lost in thought, thinking about Nicho. They had met not even a month ago, but Karine felt drawn to him. He was smart, strong, and even good looking. She wasn't sure it was love, it felt more like admiration.

Plus, Karine was a Jedi and a Jedi is not supposed to fall in love. They are to devoid themselves of attachments, supposed to keep their distance as a neutral party, but she found herself unable to do so. During their training on Ossus, they were always together. Whenever they trained, it would be together and he mad sure she was always safe. She found it flattering, to say the least.

As they walked through the jungle, Karine decided. She decided that even if what she felt wasn't love, and more like a friendship type of relationship, she wasn't going to leave Nicho. She was going to stay by his side to the end, and maybe by then real feelings would blossom between the two.

The duo broke though the forest line into a clearing, and what they saw dragged Karine from her thoughts. In front of them was a large structure built into the side of the mountain. It stood hundreds of feet tall, towering over the trees.

They noticed an encampment nearby, but realized it had been abandoned months ago and turned their attention once again to the building in front of them. Nicho took a step forward, but recoiled, "There's an evil presence here."

"I feel it too, but what is this thing?" Karine asked.

"I don't know, we should check it out," he suggested. Karine agreed and they walked toward the structure.

They walked up the ramp and immediately noticed droids littering the ground. They were smashed into pieces and people lay nearby, cut in two and already decaying. "Those are lightsaber wounds," Karine pointed out.

Nicho nodded and kneeled down next to one of the decaying bodies. "This ones a dark Jedi. Someone killed these Sith."

"But who? Was it Revan?" she asked.

"It's possible." He continued to the door leading inside and opened it. They walked in and followed the path to a large open chamber.

"What's that?" Karine asked, pointing down the hall at a large glowing ball of energy.

"I...I don't know," he replied. They continued down the hall carefully, and when they stood below the large glowing red ball, they noticed another person in the room. He sat next to a tomb and was meditating. Light from the ball shot out and hit the figure, and Nicho realized who it was.

"Hello...Nicho," the man said. "Good to see you again, though, I didn't expect it to be this soon."

"Xardun," Nicho whispered. "Why can't you just leave us alone?"

"Leave you alone? But you are the ones who followed me here," he replied, "And besides, how can I leave _you_ alone?"

"What's so special about me?"

"I don't know, I never knew. All I know is that mom and dad always said you were a model child because you went and became a Jedi," he spat.

"M-mom and dad...what are you...?" Nicho stuttered.

He pulled the hood off of his face and looked at Nicho, "I am your brother, Nicho, Tyren Morn."

Karine looked between the two and noticed the similarities right away. Tyren was almost identical, the only difference being he was younger and had a scar across his right eye. His beard, his hair, even his facial features matched. "This...this is impossible," Karine managed.

Xardun, or Tyren, laughed, "Impossible? No. Improbable is the word you're looking for."

"What happened...why are you with the Sith? What the hell are you doing?" Nicho demanded.

Tyren shrugged, "Our parents always loved you the best, saying how amazing you would be when you became a Jedi. They said it should make me and our two sisters proud to be your brother, but instead it made me sick. I hated you, hated you for stealing our parents' love. Eventually, the Sith came. Apparently you weren't the only one with the power to use the Force. They said it was dormant, but it was there. They trained me, raised me to be a warrior, and a great one I became."

Nicho fell to his knees, "The Sith...if they came for you, what happened to the others? Our sisters, our parents?"

Tyren laughed again, "Dad died trying to protect us, but mom and both sisters got away. I hunted them for months and finally found them. I tortured them for days before finally killing him."

"No!" Nicho screamed, "Why did you do that? How could you?"

"Always trying to be the righteous one, I see. You can't fool me, I saw you give into the darkness. You want it, hunger for it. That's why you came here," Nicho's brother said.

"No...no you're...you're wrong," Nicho sobbed.

Tyren took a step towards him, and reached out his hand, "You feel it don't you? Freedon Nadd's power flows throughout the room. Come Nicho, join me. Together, as siblings, and as partners, we can destroy the Republic. You saw the power of the dark side, it can help you forget the pain, help you deal with it to change that pain into power." Nicho stood, and stared into his brother's eyes with hatred. "Yes, feel the anger burn inside you, let it consume you."

"Don't Nicho!" Karine called out. "Please listen to me! Do not join him; he wants to destroy everything you love." Tears flowed out of Karine's eyes, "Do not do it Nicho, stay with the ones who care about you."

Nicho stood, activating his lightsabers. He walked over to Karine and towered over her. She sobbed and closed her eyes when she head him whisper, "I would never join the Sith."

She opened her eyes and saw Nicho smiling at her. He turned around, so that his back was to her. He had placed himself between Tyren and Karine and raised his lighsabers, "You'll pay for what you've done."

"That is most unfortunate, but," the Sith smiled, "now I get to kill you."

"I'm sorry, brother, but_ I_ have to kill _you,_" Nicho replied.

"No!" Karine called out, "We can not fight him, not here. This place is infested with dark power, we can not win."

Tyren frowned, "You're leaving the party so soon? It was just about to get fun!" He activated his double-blade and lunged at Nicho.

Nicho blocked the attack and flung his brother across the room with a flick of his wrist. Tyren flipped and landed on his feet. As soon as he landed he charged forward again. Nicho quickly deactivated one of his lighsabers and grabbed Karine with his free hand. "Let's go!" he yelled.

They ran down the hall, through large doors and saw the exit ahead of them. They could hear Tyren behind them, screaming and laughing as he chased after them. When they reached the door, however, the laughter and screams died away, as if he disappeared. When they opened the door and stepped into the light, they understood why.

When they emerged, they found themselves surrounded by Mandalorians. One in gold armor, obviously the leader, stepped forward, "Nicho, I presume?"

He nodded slowly, "Who are you?"

"I," the Mandalorian said, "am Mandalore."

Nicho stared open mouthed at the man in the gold armor as Mission and Dustil pushed themselves to the front of the group. Nicho's attention was drawn to them as he noticed that they were extremely bloody and bruised. "What happened?" he asked.

"We were ambushed by Sith, at least a dozen of them. We managed to take out five or six of them when Canderous showed up," Mission replied.

"Canderous? Who is Canderous?" Karine questioned.

Once again the Mandalorian in gold spoke, "I'm Canderous, I used to travel with Mission." He reached up and unlatched his helmet. He removed it to reveal an aged face, one that had seen many battles. He had a small beard, and his hair was slightly gray. Wrinkles were visible across his face and dark circles were underneath his eyes. He looked around, blinking his eyes in the light, "Been a while since I took off this helmet."

"If you're Mandalore, then that means that the Mandalorians really are rebuilding themselves," Nicho said, "but why are you rebuilding, why now?"

"That is...classified information," Canderous replied. He turned and signaled his men to leave, "Come, follow me back to our base."

OoOoO

During the next few days, Nicho and his crew explore the camp and learn much about the Mandalorian ways of life. They talk with them and find out aspects of their culture that they didn't know existed. It is an enriching experience, but like all good things, it must come to an end.

So, after some much needed rest, Nicho pulled out the datapad Pakin gave him and contacted the Genoharadan. After a few minutes, Pakin appeared, floating in front of Nicho. "I have what you want," Nicho told him, "but first I want to know why you didn't tell me my brother was Xardun."

Pakin sighed, "If I told you, you might have taken it the wrong way or you might've held back if you were to fight him."

"Well I did fight him, and he told me everything, even that he killed our sisters and mother," Nicho sadly said.

Pakin was taken aback, "What? He didn't kill anyone in your family, your mother and sisters are still alive."

Nicho was startled, "They're still alive? Where are they?"

"They keep moving, but their last known location is Tatooine," he replied.

"Thank the Force that they're okay," Nicho sighed, "Now for your info. Yea, there's a Mandalorian camp here, but it seems that they have no interest in joining the Sith. Besides that, they just seem to be rebuilding they're people."

"Well then we have nothing to worry about, yet. I still want you to keep an eye on them, alright?" he asked.

Nicho nodded, "No problem, I'll contact you if anything comes up." He hit a button and the hologram disappeared.

Almost immediately after he turned of the hologram, Mission was banging on the door and yelling his name. He waved his hand and the door opened, allowing Mission to come inside. "What is it?" he asked.

"Come to the briefing room, there's someone on the com that you might want to talk to," she replied with a smile.

As Nicho walked into the room, he heard Canderous talking.

"Ok, but before you go, there is someone here that has been looking for you."

"Who is it?" a familiar voice asked.

"Revan? Is that really you?!" Nicho exclaimed.

"Nicho!" Revan shouted, surprise evident in his voice.

"Yea, it's me!" he replied happily.

Revan laughed, "It's been a while; it's great to hear from you!"

"It's good to hear you too. I want you to know that I've been doing what you ask, getting people that will fight. We will follow you and help you fight the Sith."

"Alright Nicho, but we will be equals here, and you will help me lead these men. It will be you, me, and Joron," Revan replied happily.

"The General is there too?" Nicho asked, his smile reaching from ear to ear.

"Hello, Nicho," Joron replied.

"Okay Nicho, now that that is settled, the first thing I need you to do is help Mandalore rally the Mandalorians and have them ready to go at a moments notice. Second, go to Coruscant with Mandalore and try to talk the Senate into preparing the Republic for war, I'll be there shortly."

"Yes, sir!" was the quick reply.

Revan cut off communications and Nicho walked over to Mandalore, "Well you heard him, let's get moving."

OoOoO

Nicho was sitting in the cargo hold of a Mandalorian ship. Mandalore and Beron were in the cockpit punching in the coordinates to Coruscant and preparing the ship to jump to hyperspace. They were a ways off from reaching the capitol planet, probably another hour or two.

The young Jedi looked up as Karine walked in and sat down on the cold metal floor. "So Nicho...you fought with Revan, right?"

"Yea."

"And you fought against the Mandalorians too?"

"That's right."

"Well, I was wondering...if maybe you would like to talk about it."

"What's there to talk about?" Nicho asked.

"I just want to hear what it was like, the battles you fought in, I want to know...you," she replied.

Nicho sighed, "Alright." He cleared his throat and coughed.

"I guess it began in the year 3,983 BBY..." he began.


	9. Chapter 9 Dreams of the Past

**Dreams of the Past**

Nicho was sitting in the cargo hold of a Mandalorian ship. Mandalore and Beron were in the cockpit punching in the coordinates to Coruscant and preparing the ship to jump to hyperspace. They were a ways off from reaching the capitol planet. It would probably be another hour or two.

The young Jedi looked up as Karine walked in and sat down on the cold metal floor. "Are you okay Nicho?"

"Yea, I'm fine," he replied.

"You do not look okay," she said.

"Trust me, it's nothing."

"It is Revan, right?"

"No...well yea. The last time I saw him he was evil; he tried to kill me."

"What happened?" she asked, concerned.

"I said nothing happened," he snapped.

"Please Nicho, I just...I want to know if maybe you would like to talk about it."

"What's there to talk about?" Nicho asked.

"Talk about when you fought in the Mandalorian Wars with Revan; when you turned against him. I just want to hear what it was like in the battles you fought in. I want to know...you," she replied.

Nicho sighed. He sat there silently for a while before he finally said, "Alright." He cleared his throat and coughed.

"I guess it started about thirteen years ago...," he began.

OoOoO

It's almost been thirteen years now, where worlds located on the Outer Rim were being attacked and completely wiped out. One by one, they were being exterminated. All living things on the planet extinguished. The Republic needed answers, but as there were no survivors of these incidents, they were unable to determine what was happening. After much deliberation, the Senate of the Republic decided that they would commence an investigation as to why these worlds were being wiped out.

The investigation was to be lead by a man by the name of Lenron Tallo, a general of the Republic fleet. He took his ship, the Freedom, and its crew of over one hundred men and women out to the Outer Rim.

Upon the ship's return to the Republic, it was made known to the public that they were under attack. It came back with only half the crew alive, the general in the med bay, and the ship nearly split in half. It was a miracle they made it back to the inner Republic at all.

Once the initial shock from the condition of the ship's return and the state it was in wore off, the Republic prepared for war. Only after the Republic mobilized its armada, did these strange invaders move closer to the core worlds, threatening to destroy the Republic. This took place almost twenty years after the initial contact with the attackers. The reason it took so long for the Republic to mobilize is unknown.

The attackers easily invaded the inner Republic, quickly taking Onderon, staging their attack from their base on Dxun. Once Onderon was taken the Mandalorian army poured into Republic controlled space, entering through three different systems. The main bulk of the army attacked Taris, but seeing that it was well protected, the invaders split their forces. By doing so, they were able to attack two planets at once, and the Republic fleet was forced to split their own armada to fight off the two pronged assault. With their efforts split, the Republic was not able to hold off the ferocious attack.

Meanwhile, the Senate prepared the bulk of their forces for a counter offensive. These strange attackers pushed forward and defeated the Republic defense, and besieged Taris. This first attack that caught the Republic off-guard was later referred to as "The Onslaught."

Once the invaders moved closer to the core worlds, it was revealed that these attackers were the Mandalorian Neo-Crusaders lead by Mandalore the Ultimate. They were a group of warmongers that enjoyed fighting and the honor that came with it.

The Republic sent out their attack force, but their navy was all but wiped out at the hands of these people. They were bred for war, taught how to kill at the youngest of ages, and ruthless. Never giving up, they pushed forward without fear and fought when the battle was clearly lost. But what was most important to these war-lovers was the honor of battle, the honor of taking out the most enemies, and if one was to die they took ten of the Republic's soldiers with them. For every cruiser lost in space, the Republic lost three.

Not even six months into the war, the Republic was on the verge of crumbling. The economy was using all its resources to try and build more ships to make a larger army. They drafted young men right out of school into the navy and forced them to go through a brief training process which was only really long enough to learn how to fire a blaster. These men became scared. They feared death, and so many ran away, and the ones who were caught...the ones who knew what happened never went into details.

The Republic turned to what was considered shameful defense tactics. They placed major military bases in large populated cities, hoping the Mandalorians would refrain from attacking with full force. These tactics; however, only angered the Mandalorians, and to express their anger they would destroy the entire city and everyone in it. They showed no mercy, and planet after planet fell.

Soon the Republic was standing on their last leg. They needed help, and they turned to the only ones that could stop the Mandalorians. They asked the Jedi for aid, and appealed to their sense of justice and doing the right thing.

OoOoO

Karine nodded, "I know all this already. I want to know when you came in."

Nicho chuckled, "You're an impatient woman you know that? I'm getting there."

"Were you recruited by Revan?" she asked.

He narrowed his eyes slightly, "You could say that..."

OoOoO

Nicho paced back and forth, waiting inside his room for the council's decision. Just a couple days ago the Republic had called for aid against the Mandalorians, and the council was currently debating whether they should intervene.

Nicho glanced at a panel on the wall, and sighed. The council had been inside for at least three hours, and there was still no decision. At that moment a light started blinking on his terminal and he rushed over and activated it. A hologram of Master Vrook appeared hovering there.

"My fellow Jedi, after much deliberation, the council has forbidden our involvement in this war. Under no circumstances should any of you go to the Republic's aid." Vrook finished and the hologram disappeared leaving Nicho surprised at the announcement.

He balled his hands into fists and slammed them against the terminal. He continued to hit the terminal until his hands were raw and bloody. "Why?" he asked aloud, "You bastards!"

He took a deep breath and then another, calming himself down. He decided that even if he didn't fully agree with the council's decision he would respect it.

OoOoO

"But you joined the Mandalorian Wars. What changed your mind?" Karine asked Nicho.

"Well," he began, "it started when Revan had a falling out with Master Kavar. You see Kavar was sympathetic to the Republic but couldn't get the council to change their minds. Revan thought he'd have a go at it, but even he couldn't do it. Angry, Revan stormed into the library where I was studying and Kavar followed him. They started a big screaming match, Revan saying that the Republic needed help and Kavar agreeing but saying that they had to respect the council's decision. In the end, Revan took that time to announce his recession from the Jedi order and asked if anyone wished to join him. Not even a week later, hundreds of Jedi had flocked to Revan's cause, ready to fight for the Republic and its people."

"But you still stayed behind?"

"The General, Joron, had already tried to recruit me, but I stuck to my morals and obeyed the council. I rejected him down flat and said I wouldn't join, but for some reason, Revan wanted me. He just wouldn't leave me alone. Eventually he cornered me in the library..."

OoOoO

Nicho glanced up and looked surprised to see Revan sitting there. "What do you want?" he asked.

"I want you to come with me," Revan replied.

Nicho raised an eyebrow, "Where to?"

Revan shrugged, "No where in particular, just to go for a walk."

Nicho shook his head and leaned back in his chair, "Look, I already told your friend that I didn't want to join, you can't talk me into changing my mind. The council gave its orders, and I intend to follow them."

"But why?" Revan asked, throwing his hands up in the air, "People are dying and you want to just sit here?"

"The council has their reasons, it's not my place to question them," Nicho answered, crossing his arms.

"Even when people are being murdered? You can't see that the council is willing to sacrifice the entire Republic just to protect themselves?"

"No, not to protect themselves. It's for the greater good. If they don't help the Republic it's because they see something we don't."

Revan leaned back and placed his feet on the table, "Fine, you win, but I want you to tell me what it is they see that keeps them from helping INNOCENT PEOPLE!"

Nicho scowled, "I don't know, ok? There are thousands of people dying and the council won't step in. Don't ask me why. All I can say is that they must have a good reason."

Revan smiled, "But you doubt them don't you?"

"Well...no...maybe...," Nicho hesitantly answered.

"You see it don't you? You see that the council is wrong, you just don't want to. You believe that the council can't be wrong, but you need to think for yourself. If this feels wrong, letting the Republic crumble, then you have the right to do something about it. The council has chosen to ignore the Mandalorians, but you know as well as I that if they succeed in conquering the Republic, the Jedi will be wiped out as well and evil will spread through the galaxy like a disease."

Nicho placed his face in his hands, he felt a tingling at the back of his head, but ignored it, "I know, I know. You're right, but I don't want to be thrown out of the order."

Revan leaned forward and place a hand on his shoulder, "Won't it be worth it if we can save the Republic?"

Nicho looked into Revan's eyes. He just sat there and stared for a couple minutes, his head throbbing. The headache got worse and worse until he finally answered, "Yea, it is."

"Good," Revan said, patting him on the shoulder. "Speak to Joron later for all the details."

OoOoO

"It wasn't until later that I found out that that tingling I felt was Revan interfering with my thoughts and manipulating me. He took my doubts and brought them up to the surface."

Karine scowled, "That is terrible! How could he do such a thing? How can you forgive him for that?"

Nicho shrugged, "I realized that I was glad he did it. I'm glad he made me join him. It was for a good cause."

"So even though it wasn't your choice you're glad you joined?"

"Yea, I mean we saved thousands of lives. Innocent people were saved because Revan decided to help them."

"When you stepped in to help, would you consider that the turning point of the war?" Karine asked.

Nicho crossed his arms and leaned back against a crate, thinking. "Not exactly. When we first showed up, the Republic troops weren't very...happy to see us. I mean they wanted help, but they wondered why we took so long to respond. So it took a while to get them to trust us and listen to what we said. I'd say the real turning point was on Dxun."

"Dxun? Why there?"

"Well, that was when the men finally started to trust us, not to mention it was a major victory."

"Were you there?"

"Of course, but not until a couple days into the battle..."

OoOoO

Nicho trudged through the forest, rain pounding down on him and the platoon of troops behind him. He made sure they didn't get lost in the sea of trees as he lead them around to the side of the Mandalorians. They were on Dxun, a major base for the Mandalorian people. Joron Kraus lead the initial assault on the Mandalorians, but they had reached a stalemate.

The Mandalorians had bunkered in and entrenched themselves, keeping the Republic forces at bay. Their defenses were solid, as mines had been placed throughout the battlefield and anti-air guns were keeping air support from aiding the Republic troops.

Nicho had been sent in with a platoon of troops to try and flank the Mandalorians and see if he could breach their defenses. As he came around to the side of the Mandalorians, he heard blaster fire off to his left.

Signaling his men to halt, he cautiously moved forward. He approached a clearing, an AA gun in the middle. There at the base of the building, Nicho saw Joron standing there. He was fending off Mandalorian troops, protecting a Zabrak who was setting explosive charges on the AA tower.

Nicho motioned his men forward. They charged forward as Nicho leapt into the clearing slicing a Mandalorian in half. Nicho's soldiers stormed the area and wiped out what was left of the enemy.

Nicho ran over to Joron who was on his knees panting. "T-thanks, you showed up just in time," Joron said, trying to regain his breath.

Nicho picked him up and replied, "Hey, no problem. What were you doing out here anyway?"

"Revan asked us to take out the AA guns and the minefield so when reinforcements arrive they won't get blown to bits."

"How many towers do you have left to blow up?"

"This is the last one, as soon as Bao-Dur is done setting the charges we're heading back to base."

"Should we follow you or what? We were told to flank the Mandalorians, but it's your decision since you're the commanding officer," Nicho said.

"It won't help, they're too deeply entrenched; just follow me back to base camp," Joron replied.

Once the Zabrak was finished, they blew the final gun tower and trekked back to the Republic base. When they arrived, it was just as bad as when Joron had left. At that moment, the Republic soldiers were beating back a suicide charge by the Mandalorians. Joron took Nicho to the back of the camp, where there temporary HQ was located. They entered the small tent-like structure and looked at a holographic display of the battlefield.

"We're being beaten back," Nicho pointed out as he studied the map.

"I know, but Revan is on the way," Joron informed him.

Nicho shook his head, "It won't matter if those mines aren't disabled before he gets here."

Joron pointed to three different locations, "The mine fields are located here, here, and here. We need to think of a way to get rid of them."

"We can't even get close to them, though, they're right in the middle of the battlefield and anyone who went out to disable them would be torn to shreds!"

Joron scratched his chin and sighed, "I can only think of one way to get rid of those mines once and for all."

"What is it?" Nicho asked.

He took his finger and drew an imaginary circle around his troops and then a straight line towards the Mandalorian line, "We push forward."

"You mean sacrifice them? How could you even think that?"

"It's the only way! Surely you can see that!"

Nicho stuttered and then closed his mouth. He stared at the hologram; saw Republic soldiers fall, ships getting blown out of the air. "You're right. Frack, why are you right?"

Joron's comlink sputtered and when he took it out Revan voice came through, asking, "How's it coming?"

"Turrets are taken care of, how long till you get here?" Joron replied.

"Ten minutes at most. What about the mines?"

"We have a plan, but we're going to lose a lot of men," Nicho reported.

There was a moment's pause before he replied, "Do it."

Joron once again clicked off the comlink and put it away. He walked out of the tent and towards the front of the line, Nicho behind him. He stepped over dead bodies, around men stacking the bodies to use as a wall, until he stood in front of them all. He activated his lightsaber and held it in the air. The troops looked to him and he screamed as loud as he could manage, "Charge!"

OoOoO

Karine was stunned, "You charged right into the minefield?"

Nicho nodded, "Yea, it was our only option at the time."

"So what happened?"

"We lost more than two-thirds of our men in the charge, but the mines had been blown and that was what mattered. We held off as long as we could and then Revan finally showed up with Malak and the troops. We defeated the Mandalorians and pushed them off Dxun and out of the system."

"Wow," Karine said, "that must have been...exciting."

"You could say that." Nicho took a deep breath, "You probably know the rest of the story; where Revan and the Republic defeated the Mandalorians at Malachor."

"Yea, but what happened to you when you left Revan?" she asked.

"Well, I traveled around the galaxy mostly trying to stay hidden. A couple times I was attacked by Sith or mercenaries, but I managed to escape."

"After all of that, was that when you started gathering this crew?"

"Sorta," he replied, "I went to Korriban and was attacked by my brother. He almost killed me, but Mission and Dustil found me. Once I was healed, we came looking for Revan so we could help fight the Sith."

"But you found me instead!" Karine said happily.

Nicho shook his head and laughed, "Unfortunately."

Karine tried to scowl at him, but instead started laughing, "You are mean."

"Hey, I'm only saying the truth," he said raising his hands in innocence.

Karine smiled and turned her head away from Nicho, "I do not think I am going to talk to you anymore."

"You won't last an hour."

Just then a voice came over the comm. "Stop your flirting and get up here you two. We got a problem," Canderous said, sounding a little nervous.

"Were you listening in on our conversation?" Nicho asked.

"Does it matter? Now get up here!"

Grumbling Nicho and Karine made their way to the cockpit. Once there Nicho asked, "What's the problem?"

Mandalore shook his head, "We're coming up on Coruscant, but they have ships moving to intercept us. They are battle ready and look like they're going to fire."

"Try contacting that ship there, and let me talk to them," Nicho said motioning towards a ship to the right.

Beron hit a button and typed in a few commands, "This is Beron coming in from the _Independence_. My captain is requesting to speak to yours."

There was a pause and then, "This is the captain speaking."

Nicho leaned forward, "This is Nicho Morn, Jedi Knight. I am requesting permission to land and would like an emergency meeting with the Senate."

"Jedi? What are you doing with Mandalorians?"

"They're here to help. You must let us land. The Republic is in danger."

"Request denied. Mandalorians will not be allowed near Coruscant," was the reply.

This time Canderous leaned forward, "Look you son of a-"

"Canderous! That's enough!" Nicho cut in. "Look captain, if you don't let us through, we'll be forced to go back, get the rest of the fleet and make you give us permission to land."

"Is that a threat?"

"No," Nicho replied sternly, "that's a promise."

There was a slight hesitation on the other side and finally the captain replied, "Fine, go through, but if you try anything, we will blow you out of the sky."

Canderous laughed, "You remind me of Revan, boy. He probably would have done the exact same thing."

Canderous proceeded to bring their ship down onto a docking pad at the major spaceport of Coruscant. When they exited the ship, they were met with a rather large taxi with enough room for everyone. Nicho's crew and Mandalore entered the vehicle and the driver floored it making his way towards the Senate building.

Once they arrived, a large group of people were waiting for them. They were Senate members, and in the front was the chancellor, Chancellor Shika Lorel. Nicho immediately noticed she was not happy. "What the hell do you think you're doing? Why are you bringing Mandalorians to the Republic capitol planet?" she demanded.

"You see...," Nicho began.

"I'm not done yet!" she said, cutting him off. "I also want to know why you seem to think the Republic is in danger and why you think this danger is so great that you threaten my general and risk another Mandalorian War."

"If you would let the man talk, he would tell you," Mission said to the Chancellor.

Nicho held up his hand, silencing Mission. "Calm down, both of you." He turned back to the chancellor, "I'm here to tell you that the Sith are back."

The Chancellor almost fell over, "Sith? What are you talking about?"

"Call an emergency session of the Senate, and I'll tell you."

Chancellor Lorel frowned, she didn't like to be ordered around, but she agreed to do what he said.

OoOoO

Nicho was sitting next to the Chancellor in the Senate chamber waiting as the Senate members filed into the room. "What is going on, Nicho?" the Chancellor asked.

"I'll tell you when I tell everyone else. Make sure there are no news crews in here. I don't want a panic to spread."

"It's been taken care of." The last of the Senate members took to their floating platforms and waited for the Chancellor to begin the emergency session. Chancellor Lorel's platform glided to the middle of the large room. Lorel cleared her throat and silence fell over the crowd. "I have called this emergency session today because there is a Jedi here that has a very...disturbing message. His name is Nicho Morn," she announced. She then signaled for Nicho to stand.

"People of the Senate, I have grave news. It is both alarming and shocking news. The Sith are returning," Nicho began.

A murmur flowed through the crowd and a voice called out, "How do you know? The Sith were destroyed by the Exile!"

"I know someone who has seen them. You all know who he is, once a savior turned enemy. Revan is on his way back here. He hopes to prepare the Republic for war. The Mandalorians have already agreed to give you aid. All you must do now is vote whether to go to war or not. Believe me when I say that these Sith are not like the kind you have seen. These are the original Sith, the Sith species, and they want to destroy the Republic, not conquer it. You must prepare yourselves."

One of the platforms joined Nicho at the center and a man stood up. It was the representative from Alderaan, Melron Skyerre. "How can we know that this man is telling the truth? We don't know that anything is out there. For all we know this could be a ploy to lead the Republic forces into a trap."

Another platform floated out to the middle of the Senate, this one from Mon Calamari. "And if he speaks the truth? If we do not act on this knowledge we could very well be wiped out!" the Mon Calamari's representative said.

At this, an argument broke out among the senators, chaos quickly setting in. Chancellor Lorel shouted for order, but was ignored. As she continued to try and calm the people down, Nicho took a seat and placed his head in his hands. _Revan better get here soon_, he thought, _or else we'll end up killing each other before the Sith get a chance._


	10. Chapter 10 War

Hey guys, been a while right? Well, I sent it to my beta...about two or three months ago and I haven't gotten anything back. So I'm assuming they have stopped or is unable to continue betaing for me. Should anyone like to replace my beta, please let me know. Please, I could really use one and one that will stick around.

Anyway, here's the new chapter, the next chapter is also finished, and will be uploaded in a week or so. R&R please. Enjoy!

* * *

War

Nicho stood on a platform floating in the middle of the Senate building. "Please," he called out, "Calm down everyone, you must listen to me!"

A senator from Kashyyyk roared, "Silence!"

A calm came over the room and Nicho nodded to the Wookie, expressing his thanks. "You all do not have to be afraid. We must prepare ourselves for this war and gather our forces."

Melron Skyerre of Alderaan laughed, "You have no proof. You are lying." He turned to the senators around him, "Do not listen to this man, he doesn't know what he is talking about; he is only saying this to cause a panic."

Nicho scowled, "Don't be naive, senator. If I had truly wanted to cause a panic, I wouldn't have bothered to call a _private_ meeting."

At that moment, one of the chancellor's guards came up behind Nicho and tapped him. Nicho turned towards him and he whispered, "There is a ship that has just come out of hyperspace about a half an hour away from Coruscant."

"Is it who I think it is?" Nicho asked.

The guard nodded, "Yes, it has been identified as the _Ebon Hawk,_ last known owner being the Jedi Exile."

"Good, I could use Revan's help," Nicho said, relieved.

"Will you tell the Senate?"

He shook his head, "Hell no, they still don't trust him and I don't want them fighting on whether they should allow him to land or not." Nicho scratched his chin, thinking. "Make contact and inform them of our situation. Tell them to make their way to the Senate building as soon as they land."

The guard nodded, and talked into his comlink, giving his subordinates commands. The chancellor signaled Nicho to take a seat beside her as the senators continued to argue amongst themselves. "It seems that we have to wait for Revan before we will be able to convince them."

Nicho sighed, "I'm not even sure he will be able to do anything."

The chancellor placed her hand on his shoulder reassuringly, "Everything will be all right."

The Jedi chuckled, "You know, I should be the one saying that."

OoOoO

Revan stood behind Carth, who was currently navigating the _Ebon Hawk_ towards Coruscant. "How much longer?" he asked impatiently.

Carth frowned, "About twenty minutes. You know, you don't have to ask me every five minutes, it's not like Coruscant won't be there."

"Come on Carth, you know as well as I do that that is an all too real possibilty," Revan said to him.

"Yea well, I didn't really want to think about it."

Revan remained silent, watching the stars zoom by as they sped through space. The stars blurred, fusing into lines of light. Revan turned to leave, but he heard Carth gasp. Revan spun back around immediately and searched the empty space around Coruscant for what Carth saw. "What is it?" he asked.

"I'm speeding up, we need to get to Coruscant now!" Carth half shouted.

"Carth, what is it?" Revan asked again.

"We're not going to make it in time!"

This time Revan amplified his voice with the Force, "What is it?!?"

Carth turned to Revan, "The Sith fleet..."

Revan opened his mouth, closed it, and opened it again. "T-that can't be right...t-they shouldn't be here!"

Joron and Bastila rushed into the cockpit. "What's happening, we heard yelling," Joron asked.

"T-the Sith, they're right above Coruscant...," Revan said, blankly.

"They appeared out of nowhere. Unlike us, when they came out of hyperspcae, they appeared right above the planet. They just showed up on the read-out, out of thin air!"

Revan's mouth dried, his mind went blank. The Sith had a fleet over the unprepared Republic capital planet. This only meant one thing for the Republic...doom.

"How many?" Revan asked.

"What?"

"How many ships?"

Carth took a moment as he counted the ships. He finished and then recounted, and recounted again. "There's at least ten fully armed war ships."

Revan leaned back against a wall, and put his face in his hands. Batila stood next to him, rubbing his arm, trying to comfort him.

When Revan looked up again, his face showed no fear, it showed no anxiety; only determination and...anger. "Get us there as fast as you can, get us there now!"

OoOoO

What was once a room of politicians who were arguing whether or not the Sith were back, was now a room of chaos, and the subject a moot point, as at least ten Sith war ships materialized above the planet. Nicho, however, was one of the only ones not to be panicked.

Nicho pulled out his comlink and contacted Canderous. "Where are they Mandalore, and how far out are they?"

"They are beginning the preparations to exit hyperspace and will be here within minutes," the war veteran replied.

"Have they been brought up to battle alert status?"

"Of course, they will open fire as soon as they emerge from hyperspace."

Nicho smirked, "Good. Any other news?"

There was a slight pause as Mandalore spoke to one of his soldiers, then, "I've just been informed that the Sith have poured into Republic space and have already launched attacks on Naboo, Kashyyyk, and Iridonia. More Sith ships have been spotted making their way to Manaan and Dantooine. Reports from all over the galaxy are flowing in; if we're lucky and manage to keep Coruscant from falling, we'll be lucky if we can save half the Republic."

"Damn, they know exactly where to hit. We need to win here, we need to set the tone for this war," Nicho told him.

"We've made contact, three of their ships have been taken offline in the initial attack," Mandalore reported.

Nicho nodded, "Good, keep it up and keep me posted."

OoOoO

The battle above Coruscant came into view and Revan was amazed at what he saw. There above the planet, was a battle that seemed to be turning in the Republic's favor. The Sith fleet had been reduced to two ships, one getting bombarded and the other trying to flee.

Revan turned to Joron, "That one's about to escape, let's make sure it doesn't."

Revan and Joron lifted their hands into the air, concentrating on the Sith ship that was flying away. A bead of sweat rolled down Revan's cheek as he strained himself to stop the ship. It began to slow, and Joron took this time to find the engine's and blow them apart. Revan then found the energy cells and ruptured them. Within minutes, there was a large explosion and the ship was reduced to pieces.

"Establish contact with someone on Coruscant and find out what's going on," Revan told Atton.

Atton nodded and punched a few commands into the terminal. A hologram of Nicho appeared. "Revan, good to see you again," he said casually.

"Why are you so cool? You were just attacked by the Sith!" Joron exclaimed.

"No need to worry, we had it all under control. We planned for this, though, it happened a little sooner than we had anticipated," was the reply.

"What now?" Bastila asked.

"Get down here now. We need to figure out how to counter the Sith's attack. We will meet with the-" Nicho was cut off as blaster fire zoomed past his head. "Shavit! There must have been a few landing pods that made it down." He activated his lightsabers and deflected a few more blaster bolts. "Get down here, I'll handle these guys."

The transmition cut off after more blaster fire zoomed by Nicho. "Bring us in for a landing; nice and easy," Revan commanded.

OoOoO

Nicho stood, both his lightsabers a blur as he stood in front of the chancellor, deflecting the enemy fire. At least a dozen Sith troopers were in the arena shooting at anything that moved, and more were storming in. Senators were being killed everywhere while trying to escape from the chaos.

Nicho cursed as a senator from Kashyyyk was shot down. Unfortunately for the Sith, the other wookie became enraged and worked himself into a frenzy. He launched himself into the middle of a group of Sith and threw them in all directions. He picked up one of the Sith troopers and swung him around like a club, smashing him into other enemy soldiers.

By this time, the guards of the Senate building rushed in, followed by Nichos' crew. Mission, Dustil, Karine, and Beron activated their lightsabers and rushed at the soldiers. On the opposite end of the room, the Xim war bot stormed in, guns blazing. The Sith troopers stopped in their tracks when they saw this beast of a machine and turned to flee, but were met with the HK-50 droid and Kruoshk. The three of them opened fire on the cornered soldiers.

As Nicho helped chancellor Lorel to her feet, he escorted her out of the main hall. He passed her off to the guards and rushed back to the battle. When he reappeared, the battle was just about finished, the remaining Sith soldiers being rounded up and arrested.

Nicho sighed and called his crew to him. "Thanks, that was close," he said.

"It could have been worse," Karine replied.

There was a loud scream from behind them and when they turned around, one of the guards was flying right at them. Nicho reacted quickly, slowing him down first and then setting him on the ground. "What happened," Kruoshk questioned.

"S-Sith! Dark Jedi! At least a dozen. They landed outside the Senate building and forced their way inside," he said, panic evident in his voice. "We're done, nothing can stop them!"

"Damn," Nicho said under his breath, "We need to cut them off, find out where they are going."

"Do you know what they could be after?" Beron asked the guard.

The guard thought for a second and replied, "The chancellor, she's in her office under emergency lock down."

"Let's go, we have to beat them there."

Nicho and his crew raced through the building, getting to the chancellor's office seconds before five dark Jedi came up the turbolift. Surprised, they couldn't act quickly enough and three were killed instantaneously by blaster fire. The other two jumped out of the lift and drew their lightsabers. Nicho rushed forward and swung his green lightsaber at the one Jedi, but it was blocked. He swung his other blade diagonally from left to right, causing the Sith to stumble backwards. He swung his blue lightsaber and sliced off the enemies arm, and then cut through his neck with the green one. The other dark Jedi had already been taken care off by the others when he had finished.

"Five down, at least six to go," Beron said.

Kruoshk eyed the turbolift, "Watch that lift," he said, "They'll come looking for their buddies sooner or later wondering what happened."

"He's right, don't let your guard down," Nicho told his crew. There was a whoosh as the lift disappeared, heading towards the first floor.

"That was fast, the Sith have no patience," Mission commented.

Dustil snorted, "Trust me, you have no idea."

The group prepared themselves, the Jedi members of the crew up front while the droids and Kruoshk covered them. There was another whoosh and the lift came back up. Nicho felt a ripple in the Force and he held out his hand, signaling the others to stand down.

When the doors opened, Revan and Joron entered the room. "Looks like we made it just in time," Joron said.

"The rest of our crew is taking care of the other dark Jedi," Revan told Nicho. "Is the chancellor in there?" he asked, indicating the door behind Nicho.

Nicho nodded, "Yea she is, she's safe. Should we tell her to come out?"

Revan shook his head, "No not yet. We need to make a sweep of the place and make sure there are no more Sith soldiers running around the place."

OoOoO

After a thorough search of the building, Nicho, Revan, and the others informed the chancellor that she was safe. She thanked them and asked Nicho, Joron, and Revan to join her in her office.

Her hands were shaking as she lifted a cup of tea to her lips. After taking a sip, she visibly calmed down and asked, "What do you suggest we do now? There are other planets getting attacked, and they will surely fall within a few days, if not right away."

Nicho nodded, "That's true, we need to come up with some sort of counter offensive and keep these planets from falling."

Revan rubbed his chin, "How fast can you rally the Republic's forces?"

Chancellor Lorel gave a slight shrug, "If I were to give the order, I'd say at least two hours."

"Do it," Joron advised her, "We can come up with a plan as they gather."

She agreed and pushed a button on her chair. She then gave the order to assemble the Republic armada. "It's done, what now?"

"We need to meet with your general so that we can devise a counter offensive. Have him meet us in the war room," Revan said.

"Of course."

After a few minutes, the three Jedi knights were waiting in the war room, when the Republic general entered the room. "Hello, my names Jon Naykin, general of the Republic forces. Are we ready to begin?"

"Not quite, we're still waiting on someone," Revan said.

"You talking about me?" Canderous asked as he walked in the door.

"A Mandalorian?!" the general exclaimed.

"The leader of the Mandalorians, the one who just saved your ass, in case you didn't know," Canderous growled.

The general raised his hands in alarm, "I know, I was just...surprised, that's all."

Canderous's lips curled into a smile, and he took a seat in front of the holographic terminal. He typed in a few commands and an image of Coruscant appeared. "As you can see, our Mandalorian ships caught the Sith ships by surprise and managed to destroy most of them."

"How did you get here so fast?" General Jon asked the Mandalorian leader.

The seasoned war veteran pointed in Nicho's direction, "We worked out a plan to keep a large Mandalorian fleet in hyperspace near Coruscant space. If you were to be attacked, we would pull out of hyperspace and help you out. The only thing is we didn't expect the damn bastards to attack so early."

"Okay, so now what do you suggest we do? Other planets are under attack and we need to step in."

Nicho nodded, "We know that, but there's a problem; the Republic doesn't have the army to stand up to the Sith, not even with the Mandalorians."

Joron agreed with Nicho, saying, "He's right, but that doesn't mean that we can't still try. Isn't there any thing else we can do to raise the Republic's power?"

"Maybe if we had more Jedi, but instead we have at least four officially trained Jedi and a bunch of padawans," the general said.

"Hey, they are just as strong as real Jedi, and that's not the problem. One Jedi won't make a difference, we need thousands of soldiers, which we don't have," Nicho pointed out.

Revan shook his head, "We just don't have those kinds of resources. No matter what, we will not be able to create an army as large as the Sith's. We are just going to have to make do with what we have."

"Well, what do we have?" Canderous asked the general.

"From early reports, it looks like we have at least forty fully equipped _Hammerhead_ class war ships. Over a hundred thousand troops, all trained and ready for battle. Compared to the Sith's estimated three hundred thousand soldiers, three thousand bounty hunters and mercenaries, and reports of a droid army of at least five thousand and growing; we just can't stand up to them."

"Don't forget the ten thousand strong Mandalorians worth at least five of your men," Canderous snorted.

"Enough!" Revan commanded, "Stop talking about how we're screwed an start talking about what's important! We need to figure out what to do with what we have. What planets are being attacked, we'll go from there."

The general cleared his throat and pushed a button on the holographic display. The image zoomed out and expanded throughout the room, showing a large view of the galaxy. The general pointed to a planet in the Chommel sector, "Naboo has come under attack along with Iridonia and Kashyyyk. The Sith fleet has converged on Manaan and Dantooine and has begun its attack as well."

"We need Kashyyyk and Manaan, definetely," Nicho said. "Kashyyyk is the foothold in that system and we can't afford to lose it and the Wookies are very important allies. Manaan is our main source of kolto, we can't let that planet fall either."

"I can't understand, though, why the Sith are attacking Naboo and Dantooine, they just aren't important planets," Joron said.

Canderous leaned forward, "I can tell you exactly why they want these planets. Naboo is not known for its military strength, so obviously it would be an easy planet to take. After taking that planet, they would be able to set up a stronghold there and base future hit-and-run type attacks from there. They would use this planet as a foothold in the system and eventually will spread out into other systems. Dantooine on the other hand is a symbol, a place where the Jedi were once stationed. The Sith want to destroy all that has to do with the Jedi, and Dantooine is something they want to get rid of."

Nicho studied the holgraphic map for a few moments. "I know what we can do, but it's going to be risky," he said.

"What is it?" Revan asked.

"We don't have enough troops to spread out across all these planets, instead we're going to have to make some planets our top priorities. Kahyyyk, Manaan, and Iridonia are those planets. The other two, Naboo and Dantooine, we can't afford to send a fleet of ships to their aid."

"Then what do you suggest we do? Leave those two planets to their fates'?" Revan asked.

Nicho shook his head, "No. First, what we need to do is send at least half the Republic fleet to Kashyyyk, and they _have_ to be put under the direction of Mission, Dustil, and Zalbaar. They know the most about the planet and its people, and will be the most effective leaders. Send the other half of the Republic forces to Iridonia.

"If Mandalore thinks his men are up to it, send his army to Manaan and hold of the attacking Sith. We'd have to try to send reinforcements when possible, but we can't guarantee anything. Last, give me and my crew at least two battalions and we'll split up and go to Naboo and Dantooine and work with the local military to hold off the Sith as long as we can."

Revan rubbed his chin, "You're telling me that you want to take a battalion of troops and hold off a Sith fleet? Are you fraking mad?"

Canderous cleared his throat and cut in, "No he's right. The Republic forces can hold up the Sith at Kashyyyk and Iridonia and have a strong chance of taking back these planets. By only splitting the Republic forces by half instead of quarters, you have a greater chance of success. We Mandalorians will surely hold Manaan, and Nicho gives a solid plan to give Dantooine and Naboo fighting chances."

"What makes you so sure they just won't bomb Dantooine or Naboo to dust?" Joron asked.

"They will want to go into the Jedi Temple and take everything that belonged to the Jedi, and Naboo is a planet they need; trust me, they won't bomb anything," Canderous assured him, "At least at first. Nicho, you should know that if you do stop them, they will grow impatient and may well bomb the planet."

"It's a risk I'm willing to take," he said firmly.

Revan thought for a long time, going over all the things that were suggested. He scratched the back of his head, trying to think of something else, anything else, but what Nicho said made sense, and it was the best plan they had. Finally, "All right, we'll do it. What exactly are we going to do with the rest of our crew?"

"Send them where they're needed," Canderous said, "They are the only Jedi left, trust me, we'll need them everywhere."

Revan stood, "We have our plan, lets put it into action."

OoOoO

Nicho stood on the balcony outside the chancellor's office. He looked out at the sun, it sinking behind the large skyscrapers, darkness descending on the city. It was beautiful in its own way, the sunlight glittering off the glass and metal of the buildings. Lights from the speeders were blurs as they raced by at seemingly dangerous speeds.

The young Jedi sighed, arms crossed. He turned his head to the side as Karine walked out onto the balcony next to him. "What is the matter?" she asked.

"Nothing, just thinking," he replied simply.

"I could tell, I could see the steam," she said jokingly.

Nicho smiled, "Haha, very funny."

Karine giggled, and looked out at the sunset as well. There was a cold breeze as the sun disappeared over the horizon and she shivered. Nicho noticed and draped his robe over her, "Here, don't want you to get sick."

"So what are you thinking about?" the young woman asked, watching Nicho, trying to catch his eyes.

He looked into Karine's emerald eyes and quickly looked away, a blush on his cheeks, "You know, stuff."

"That is fascinating, the minds of men amaze me," she said sarcastically.

Nicho laughed, "Well, it's complicated."

"I have time, explain it to me."

Nicho hesitated, "Well, lately, anytime I try to concentrate something, I mean som_one,_ keeps popping up in my head and keeps me from doing that."

Karine's heart fluttered, "Who is it that is coming up?"

Nicho locked eyes with Karine. He reached out and took her hands, "You."

Karine almost fainted, "A-are you serious?"

Nicho nodded, "I've never been more serious in my life."

Karine's heart seemed to stop, in fact time seemed to stop. Everything slowed down as Karine took in the information. Then it hit her, the full impact of what Nicho just said to her finally registered and she couldn't stop tears from welling up. "You love me?" she asked, between sobs.

"I-I think I do, no, I know I do," he firmly replied.

Karine smiled, tears rolling down her face, "I love you too."

"I want you to know this because war is here, and I don't know what will happen to either of us. I wanted to make sure you knew how I felt before we are separated."

"What do you mean? I am going with you to Dantooine," Karine said, a confused look on her face.

Nicho sighed, "No, you're going to Naboo, Revan decided that it was best. We won't see each other for a while, but we will still be connected. Connected through the Force and through our love. At the end of this war, we will be together."

Karine smiled and Nicho grabbed her, and on that balcony on Coruscant, he kissed the emerald eyed Jedi.

"Don't die on me Karine," he said after pulling away.

"And you better not die on me," she replied, wiping the tears from her eyes.

They stood on that balcony for what seemed like hours, holding each other. Finally, they turned in for the night, and prepared for the tough times to come, but they would be ready, because their love gives them all the more reason to win the war.


	11. Chapter 11 Sacrifices

Here's the next chapter. I really like this one, and will probably like the next one more since it has more war scenes which I have thought out and are excited to write. My plan is to focus on one battle per chapter, this one introduces each battle and lays out the foundation for each. They will take place at the same time, I just want to give each battle it's due, with its own chapter.

So, here you go. Enjoy, review if you will and be prepared for the next installment!

* * *

**Sacrifices**

Nicho paced back and forth, his ship slowly pulling into the port of Dantooine. He had split up his crew and sent half to Naboo, the others with him. On Naboo were Karine, HK-50 and Beron along with Brianna from Joron's crew.

Dustil and Mission were sent to Kashyyyk, so that left Kruoshk, Xim, and himself. Revan also sent Atton with them, just in case. Nicho thanked him, they could use the extra lightsaber.

He felt the ship touch down and, with large strides, got to the ramp just as it began to open. He stepped down and walked out into the bright sun. Nicho had expected the port to be busy, people trying to escape the planet, but it was empty. There was not a person in sight, as if there never was anybody there to begin with. He walked out of the port, closely followed by his companions and came upon Khoonda, the former Matale estate turned government building.

He walked to the nearest door and entered the building, telling his friends to wait outside in case something happened. As he entered, he activated his lightsabers as he came face to face with at least thirty armed guards. "Calm down," he told them, "I'm not here to hurt anyone."

"Stand down," a female voice called out. As the soldiers put away their weapons, the woman that spoke stepped forward, "My name is Terena Adare, the leader here on Dantooine."

Nicho deactivated his lightsabers and gave a small bow, "My name is Nicho, friend to the Exile."

The woman nodded, "He informed me of your arrival, and I am grateful, but you did not bring many soldiers."

"We brought some, but we will have to hold them off until help arrives. We need to find a safe place for everyone to stay, and I have a place in mind."

"We'll stay here, in Khoonda," the administrator suggested.

"No, it's to open, they can attack us from all sides. We should move to the Jedi enclave, we can defend ourselves better there. With mountains surrounding the enclave and only one way into the valley, it will funnel the enemy, and we can hopefully hold them off," Nicho said.

She sighed, "Yes, I know you're right, but I didn't want to leave this place, its a symbol to the people."

"Well, I don't mean to be harsh, but you either die in the symbol or live in the Enclave, your choice."

"Obviously we will go to the Enclave. We need to get all the civilians there as well."

Nicho thought for a moment. He turned his head looking at the soldiers around him, "We need all able bodied men to help, but take the women and children into the sublevel."

Terena nodded and turned to her soldiers, "You heard him, we're moving to the Jedi Enclave. Get everyone there right now!"

Nicho exited the building and met with his crew. "Let's help get the civilians to the Jedi Enclave, and then we'll gather the commanders and come up with a plan to defend this place."

Xim nodded, "That would be most wise, I would also suggest that we call down the Republic troops and send the warship out of the system. One ship against a fleet are not good odds, and we can't afford to lose that ship."

Atton smirked, "Hate to admit it, but tin head's right. Get all the troops here and all the weapons and equipment, we're gonna need it."

Atton and Xim left to aid the people of Dantooine, but Kruoshk lagged behind. "What is it?" Nicho asked.

"I need to go," the Bothan said.

Nicho was surprised to say the least, "What?! Where are you going?"

Kruoshk raised his hands and shushed the Jedi Knight, "I'm going to Bothawui. I'm calling in a few favors, and going to get some help, see if I can't get them to send us some more soldiers, maybe a ship or two. I'll be back as soon as I can."

Nicho sighed, "I hate to let you go, we need you, but if you can get us more troops, go."

The Bothan spy nodded and turned back to the port. He ran off and a few minutes later, the ship's engines rumbled and he disappeared.

"Where's he going?" Atton asked.

"Hopefully," Nicho said, "to get us some help."

OoOoO

Dustil and Mission were standing on the bridge of a Republic _Hammerhead_-class warship called _Redemption. _Accompanying them were fifteen other _Hamerhead _war ships and ten _Foray-_class cruisers. The plan was simple, but Dustil went over it again in his head.

The _Redemption _would lead the other _Hammerheads_ into battle against the Sith fleet above the world. Hopefully, they will be able to cause enough chaos for the _Foray-_class ships, or blockade runners, to shoot through to the planet's surface and aid the Wookies. Besides the necessary crew needed to work each _Hammerhead _ship, all remaining troops were put onto the blockade runners in hope of getting them there in time to hold off the Sith.

Zalabaar was on one of those ships, as he wanted to get to the surface of his world as quickly as possible. Mission sighed and grabbed Dustil's hand, "This is going to get complicated."

"As soon as the _Foray _ships get through, we need to pull back and out of the system. We will only come back to bring supplies to our troops," Dustil said.

Mission scowled, "We should be down there, helping Big Z."

"You're right, and we will go down there, as soon as we get the other ships there first. With Zalbaar leading the way, he can gather the Wookies faster and more efficiently than we could, and that means they'll be ready when we get there."

"You're right," Mission admitted.

One of their lieutenants walked forward and saluted, "Sir, we are preparing to exit hyperspace now and will engage the Sith fleet."

Dustil nodded, "Good. Let the _Hammerheads _emerge first, we want them to draw the most fire."

The Lieutenant nodded and walked away.

A few minutes later, Mission and Dustil felt the change in speed as the _Redemption _exited hyperspace. The other fifteen _Hammerheads_ were soon to follow. There in front of them was Kashyyyk, but between them and the planet was a large Sith fleet.

The other ships waited, and waited; waiting for the flag ship to make the first strike. Dustil signaled his lieutenant, "Tell them to open fire , I want the _Redemption's _guns pointed at that ship right there. As soon as we open fire, tell the blockade runners to emerge from hyperspace and make a run for the planet."

The lieutenant saluted, "Yes, sir."

The ship rocked as the laser cannons were fired at one of the Sith _Interdictor_-class ships, blowing off the front end. The other ships immediately opened fire and four Sith ships were destroyed as well as badly damaging two or three others.

As soon as the others had fired, the Sith fleet fell into disarray from the sudden attack. However, their counter attack was fierce and relentless, taking out three of the Republic's capital ships. The battle raged for half an hour, but finally every one of the _Foray_-class ships made it through to Kashyyyk and Dustil gave the signal to retreat out of the Sith's range.

"Now," Mission said quietly to Dustil, "we need to get our asses down there."

OoOoO

Karine walked through the small city of Theed. She and her crew had landed only a few minutes ago, and Karine had rushed out of the ship.

Naboo was a colony world, not yet recognized as its own government and planet. It was still under the jurisdiction of the planet Grizmalt. The closest thing Naboo had to a local government and police force was located in the small farm city of Theed. It was located in the center of the city, and was most likely the largest building in the area.

Karine went up the steps three at a time and brushed past the guards into the main reception area. She walked right past the front desk, a stumbling, stammering receptionist calling after her. Beron and the newer HK droid followed her in, while Brianna stopped at the desk and tried to explain things.

Karine pushed open a door and walked into a large office. Sitting at the desk was the leader of this settlement. He calmly looked up at Karine, "I wondered what all the commotion was."

"We need to evacuate the town, get people to a safe place," Beron stated, getting right to the point.

The man nodded, "I know, I am the governor you know. I've already evacuated most of the city into a bunker, I'm just finishing up here. I have a few more things to do and I will be joining them."

"What do you plan to do defensive wise?" Karine asked.

"We will surrender of course, we cannot hold Theed, it's open on all sides, it can't be defended."

"No!" Karine yelled, "You cannot do that! If they take Naboo, they will be able to take the entire system."

The governor shrugged, "There is nothing I can do."

Karine slammed her fist on his desk, snapping it in two, "If you will not defend this planet, you are potentially forfeiting the lives of innocents. Other planets will be destroyed, and you will most likely be killed."

"We do not have the troops are even the equipment to hold off a fleet, I have no choice but to surrender. Now leave, you cannot change my mind," he ordered. She turned and stalked out of the room, Beron and HK close behind.

Karine met Brianna in the reception area and they exited the building. Brianna frowned, "I take it the meeting didn't go as planned."

"They're going to surrender," Beron said.

"We can't allow them to surrender this planet," Brianna said.

Beron shrugged, "I know, but that means we have to defend this place by ourselves"

Karine scowled, she was furious. She hated that these people weren't going to stand up for themselves, that they were going to let the Sith walk all over them. "We need to contact Revan and Joron, figure out our next move," she finally said.

When they returned to the ship, they walked up the ramp and into the cockpit. Beron sat down and connected to the Republic warship hovering over Naboo. The captain of the ship appeared and saluted. Karined nodded and the captain relaxed, "Captain Archran, we need you to patch us through to Revan on Coruscant."

"Right away," was the curt reply.

Revan soon showed up on the holographic display, "What is it Brianna, Karine?"

"The inhabitants won't help us, and without them, we can't hold this planet," Brianna said.

Revan sighed, "Pull out, there's nothing we can do."

"Right away," Karine replied.

There was a large banging sound and the crew turned to see what it was. Brianna disappeared and minutes later came back with a smile, "You have to see this."

Karine and the rest of the crew exited the ship to find at least two hundred people. A man stepped forward, "We don't want to give up our planet, and we'll fight for it."

Karine smiled and Beron chuckled. Brianna raised an eyebrow, "Well this was unexpected."

The man spoke up again, "We have weapons, but not much armor, and we have someone else you can talk to. They've agreed to help, but you need to speak to their leader."

At the mention of this other person, a strange creature stepped forward, "Mesa gonna take yousa to see the bombad general. Wesa wanna protect our swamps too. Yousa follow me now."

Karine looked at the others, sort of confused. The alien grew impatient and ran up and grabbed Karine and Brianna, "Yousa is wastin' time. Follow me!"

Karine shrugged and followed after the strange creature. "What are you?" Beron asked.

"A Gungan. Wesa live in the stickgooshy, the swamp, no wastin' time, wesa have to to go. Wesa have to see the bombad general," the Gungan replied.

"What does he mean live in the swamp?" Karine asked.

Brianna cringed, "Gross."

OoOoO

Canderous and his Mandalorian fleet were just pulling out of hyperspace into the Manaan system. What he saw pop up on the vid screen made his jaw drop. The main city, Ahto City, was in ruin.

Building were blown apart, pieces to the giant floating city had been blown off and sunk. Bodies littered the streets, the people who weren't wounded were crying over their dead loved ones. Wounded crawled across the ground looking for anyone to help them. Fires raged throughout the city, people were looting the stores and merchants for medical supplies and equipment.

But as far as Canderous could tell, the Selkath had disappeared. He saw the occasional fish creature roaming the city, helping those they could, but for the most part, they were gone.

Canderous contacted his second in command, Kex, onboard one of the other ships. He appeared in front of him and saluted, "Yes Mandalore?"

"Take two other ships and go down there and secure the planet. Make sure the Selkath are all right and see if you can't convince them to continue their kolto production," the war veteran ordered.

Kex saluted once again, "Yes sir. May I ask what you are going to do sir?"

Underneath his helmet, Canderous smiled, "I'm goin' hunting. The Sith have left and are moving on to a different planet, I'm gonna find them and stop them."

Kex laughed, "I figured you would."

"When you finish up here, leave one ship on Manaan and then come meet up with us," he told him.

Kex nodded, "Will do, Kex out."

Kex disappeared and Canderous was left to his thoughts. He pushed a button and the captain's image came up. "What is it, sir?"

"Search the system for any Sith, if you can't find any, see if you can pick up the trace of a hyperdrive trail. We need to figure out where these guys are going and stop them from killing anybody else."

"Yes, sir." Canderous turned off the hologram and sighed, he was getting to old for this.

OoOoO

Bao-Dur was pacing back and forth aboard the Republic warship, _Last Hope._ He had a fleet of Republic ships with him and were heading to Iridonia.

Joining him were Joron, Bastila, and HK-47. HK was extremely happy to be joining them, saying something along the lines of, "Excited Query: Master, will we be going on a killing spree? I would love to start killing meatbags again."

Joron had laughed and replied, "Most likely yes."

HK gave a mechanical laugh, "Statement: If I could cry, I would be crying out of joy."

Bao-Dur smirked remembering that conversation, but he quickly frowned again. This was his planet they had attacked, his home world that was in danger. He had requested to go on this mission and thankfully Revan had allowed him to.

He felt a small, delicate pair of hands suddenly touch his shoulders. He turned to see Bastila. She smiled, "You need to relax, they are holding them off and we're about to pull out of hyperspace."

The Irdonian scowled, "They will pay. Is everything ready?"

Bastila nodded, "All the ships have been put on high alert. As soon as we come in range, we will engage the enemy and send in reinforcements." She paused, "We still need someone to lead the ground troops..."

Bao-Dur's head snapped around, "I'll go."

Revan's wife nodded, "I figured as much."

Bao-Dur gave her a smile and left the bridge, making his way to the hangar bay. Once he arrived, he stepped onto the nearest dropship. The startled troops looked up at him. He unhooked his blaster from his belt and stood there.

What the troops saw was a determined Iridonian, one of many they were about to encounter, but this one was different. The glow of of his arm cast a dark shadow on his face, making him look even more intimidating. He scowled and some of the troops recoiled, "Let's kill these Sith bastards."

OoOoO

Nicho had just escorted the last of the refugees to the sublevel of the Jedi Enclave. He ordered a few soldiers to go in with them and protect them should the need arise.

Nicho shut the door and sealed it, locking it with a code only Administrator Adare and he knew. He entered the main building and looked over the prepared defenses. Walls had been made of crates, tables, and other heavy objects. A few turrets had been placed in front of these walls for extra protection.

Nicho sighed. This was the last line of defense, only to be used if the Sith were to infiltrate the building. Should they need to fall back, they would close and seal the door, even if they were unable to get all the troops inside. Next they would place mines at the door and fall back deeper into the building. Every hallway had a trap and a wall, with troops assigned to every one.

And, should the Sith breach every single one of the defenses, when they reached the center of the building, they would have a surprise waiting for them. Hopefully it didn't some to that.

Outside, the defenses were even stronger. A dozen turret stations had been set up, along with a land mine field at the entrance to the valley and mortar placements hidden behind the Republic's lines. They gathered more materials and made bunkers and dug trenches. They were not going to give up without a fight.

Nicho finished his inspection and then ordered everybody to fall back to their positions. He reached out with the Force and felt the planet around him, reached out past the planet, searching, and he found the fleet. They were twenty minutes away at the least, but that was only a minor fact.

At the moment, Nicho felt another ship closing in on their location. It was coming in low and fast, off to the east of their location. They were only a few minutes away judging from their speed.

There were at least a battalion's worth of people on the ship, but Nicho didn't sense any form of hostility from them. He decided to greet them, but just in case called Xim over to him. It didn't hurt to have an eight foot robot with you just in case.

As the ship appeared over the mountains, it hovered in the air above the Enclave. Realizing what it wanted, Nicho told Xim to make contact with the ship and give it permission to land inside the Enclave.

The robot nodded and after a couple minutes, the ship began lowering itself into the landing pad. Nicho met the ship there just as it shut down and the ramp lowered itself.

A man stepped from the ship and signaled his men to exit as well. At least two hundred soldiers exited the ship and stood at attention, awaiting orders. The man walked up to Nicho and saluted. "We are soldiers sent by the Genoharradan," he explained. "It seems you could use all the soldiers you can get."

Nicho smirked, "Sure could. With our soldiers and yours, that gives us about four hundred soldiers, but if we include the local militia and men we've gathered and armed, that gives us about five hundred. Not a lot, but enough I think."

"We are under your command, so if you would give us our orders and stations, we need to prepare."

Nicho nodded, and signaled one of his Republic captains. He told him to station the soldiers where they were needed, and prepare for the attack.

Just then, there was an explosion outside the Enclave. Nicho rushed out to see three Sith fighters perform strafing runs across the battlefield. Republic soldiers scattered and ran toward shelter, jumping in trenches and behind bunkers.

Nicho reached out with the Force and caused one of the fighters to turn off course, running straight into the other one.

Xim had appeared next to him and fired a missile at the remaining one, blowing it out of the sky.

Nicho scowled, "Sith bastards." He turned to his men, "Take your positions and prepare for battle! The enemy will be here within the hour!"

OoOoO

Revan stood in the chancellor's office, standing upright, waiting for her to offer a seat. She waved him to sit and the former Sith Lord relaxed. "What's the news?" she asked.

Revan snorted, "Not good. Kashyyk has been besieged, and a bulk of the Republic forces has already been sent and have engaged the Sith fleet above the planet. Our troops have landed to aid the Wookies, but the Sith have easily taken a foothold on the planet and are forcing the Wookies to retreat deep into their forest. Initial reports say that early Sith regiments have been sent in but have not returned, so they are reluctant to go any further for now."

"Good, that will give us some time," Chancellor Lorel said, "We cannot allow Kashyyyk to fall into Sith control." She paused, "And what of Manaan?"

"Manaan is all but destroyed, as they couldn't put up a fight to ward off the initial attack. The Mandalorians have gone to salvage what they can, and keep the Republic's main kolto supplier open, and out of Sith hands. The Mandalorians have made contact with the Selkath and are trying to get them to resurface and continue to supply kolto. Hopefully they will be alright.

"Iridonia is another story. The Iridonians did not take well to being invaded, and are holding off the Sith adequately. The Republic will be there to aid them within the hour, with supplies and troops. Naboo is being held for now, but will not last long. The faster the other battles go, the faster they get reinforcements.

"In the Dantooine system, the Sith forces have entered the system and are making their way for Dantooine, they will make contact anytime now. Nicho will try his best to save as many as possible, but it will be difficult without troops."

"Do Naboo and Dantooine have sufficient numbers to hold the Sith until reinforcements are available?" the chancellor asked.

"No, they each only have a few battalions of troops, but it won't be enough for an extended battle. The quicker their battles go, the better."

"Anything else?" she asked, rubbing her temples.

Revan was about to say no when his comlink beeped. He held it out and answered. There was a small crackle and then the voice became clear; it was Canderous. "You're not going to believe this."

Revan sighed, "What's the news?"

"My scouts have reported," he began, "and it seems Alderaan has fallen."

The chancellor stared at Revan as if he grew a third eye, "T-that can't be!"

"Better believe it," the Mandalorian said. "Seems that their senator guy was a Sith, Melron I think it was. Anyway, he and Goto have taken Alderaan with a droid army and are threatening to invade nearby planets."

"That son of a kath hound!" the chancellor exclaimed.

"Calm down," Revan told her, not feeling calm himself. "Everything will be taken care of. We will go after Alderaan as soon as we get more troops."

"But Alderaan is so close, it could be used to attack Coruscant again, and the way our troops are spread out, we will have no defense against them!" she exclaimed.

Revan reached out with the Force and sent a soothing image through her mind, "Everything will be fine, calm down."

She took a deep breath, "Okay, I'm fine."

"Now," the Jedi said, "We need more troops. We have adequate numbers to defend Coruscant, but not enough to stop the Sith on all fronts. We will have to make sacrifices."

The chancellor stared at the floor, "I know...its...its just going to be hard. If only...if only we had more Jedi, more troops, anything."

"Don't worry, with the Force, miracles can happen," Revan assured her. Once again, Revan's comlink beeped. He clicked it and this time Karine was on the other side.

"Help us!...aid of locals...not enough...," blaster fire was heard in the background, followed by an explosion. "...overrun, there's just too many...zzzzt...reinforcements...zzzt...help..."

She was cut off as a larger explosion was heard. Revan looked in horror at the Chancellor. They both thought the same thing, if the Force was going to provide a miracle, now was the time for it.


End file.
